Delay cake staling with novel enzymes, says DuPont
Its recently launched POWERSoft Cake 8000 range acts as a cake softener to prolong shelf life and could help manufacturers bake seasonal cakes earlier, the company said.
Traditional cake systems
Inge Lise Povlsen, bakery group manager at DuPont Nutrition & Health, told BakeryandSnacks.com: “Until now mainly starch-hydrolysing activity such as standard maltogenic α-amylase have been used in cake systems.”
“This type of enzyme hydrolyses the starch, resulting in the production of maltose, a disaccharide comprising two glucose molecules. “
“At the same time, the sucrose in cake recipes is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. As sucrose resembles maltose, it may block the active site of the enzyme and diminish further enzyme activity.”
Converts starch to maltotetraose
She said that the POWERSoft Cake range uses DuPont patented enzyme technology to converts starch into maltotetraose, making the enzyme activity less sensitive to sucrose inhibition.
“This not only results in moister, less crumbly product, but also contributes to the texture and fresher mouthfeel throughout shelf-life,” said Povlsen.
She said the range was inspired by Dupont’s G4-amylase technology study that focused on maintaining and optisiming the quality of fresh bread.
The POWERSoft enzymes can be used in fat-free cakes such as sponge cakes, richer cakes such as pound or seasonal cakes and cake types with a high or low sugar to flour ratio, said Povlsen.
She said that some manufacturers could bake cakes now that would last until Christmas, but it would depend on the formulation.
