Gonca Çelik
Baking Industry Biotechnology Specialist
Novonesis

At Novonesis, we prioritize innovation because we know that consumers are also inclined toward innovative products. Therefore, we are a company that serves the industry with various innovative solutions. Despite the resource shortages awaiting us in the future, we do not limit our efforts solely to the optimization of wheat flour. We also have effective solutions for optimizing different types of flour.

Optimization of flour began for the first time in 1930 by Jorgensen with the addition of ascorbic acid*. In 1998, the first fortified flour was produced by adding folic acid to flour. Nowadays, by primarily adding enzymes, which are biological solutions, to flour, we optimize and make our existing resources more sustainable.

Enzymes, which are biological proteins, help improve flour quality, reduce recipe costs, and mitigate the risks associated with fluctuations in final product quality. Flour optimization essentially means modifying the structural components of flour. The components and biological solutions we use in this modification are as follows:

•  Alpha-amylases, maltogenic amylases, and glucoamylases for starch,
•  Lipases for lipids,
•  Xylanases for non-starch polysaccharides, i.e., pentosans,
•  Proteases for proteins.

Flour optimization allows us to develop a standardized product process, expand producers’ product range by introducing new products, and standardize the quality of the final product.

There are two approaches to standardizing flour quality. The first is the standardization of flour for regular bread types. This is achieved by standardizing the quality of grains produced with different milling qualities. The second approach is to standardize the quality of flour produced for specific applications such as toast bread, wafers, pizza, pasta, etc. Nowadays, it is also possible to obtain multiple types of flour qualities from a single wheat variety using enzymes (Figure 1).

Figure 1

By optimizing the process with enzymes, we can help to reduce added sugar content and eliminate the use of emulsifiers. While doing this, we can achieve it without any perceptible loss in sweetness and even add additional textural properties (Figure 2).

Figure-2

In today’s consumer purchasing criteria, health is a significant parameter, and bread is included in this criterion. We can make bread healthier by reducing added sugar or producing whole-grain bread. According to a study conducted in 2021, with the pandemic, 21% of consumers globally reported that they increased their consumption of whole-grain bread and will continue to consume more in the coming years. However, meeting consumer expectations texturally is quite challenging for producers in making whole grain bread. As seen in Figure 3, it is possible to overcome these challenges with enzymes in a study conducted using 100% rye flour. (Figure 3)

Figure 3

At Novonesis, we prioritize innovation because we know that consumers are also inclined toward innovative products. Therefore, we are a company that serves the industry with various innovative solutions. Despite the resource shortages awaiting us in the future, we do not limit our efforts solely to the optimization of wheat flour. We also have effective solutions for optimizing different types of flour. For example, as seen in the example below, in a study conducted with a mixture of 25% chickpea flour and 75% white flour, different dosages of combinations of maltogenic amylase and lipase resulted in improved volume and enhanced crumb structure compared to the control sample (Figure 4).