The German biotech firm company claims that Veron GMS (Glycerol-Mono-Stearate), the latest addition to its family of Veron baking enzymes, is able to fully replace monoglycerides in yeast raised baked products.
"In all our new product developments, our goals are technical and quality improvements of the processes and products of our customers but also having in mind to give an economical advantage to our customers, said Dr Gerald Jungschaffer, business unit manager for baking enzymes at AB Enzymes.
By implementing Veron GMS in their system, our customers can now save up to 30 per cent of their current monoglyceride costs."
AB Enzymes has now filed a patent application for the enzymatic technology behind the ingredient and claims to have conducted extensive trials prior to the official launching of the new product.
Monoglycerides are very widely used emulsifiers in the baking industry. Unlike Datem or SSL, which are used in yeast raised baked goods mainly because of their dough strengthening effect, monoglycerides are mainly used as a crumb-texturising agent.
Veron GMS was specifically designed to achieve the same textural improvements in yeast raised baked goods. The ingredient works regardless of the type of monoglyceride previously used in the bread formulation such as distilled monoglycerides or hydrated monoglycerides that simply requires an adaptation of enzyme dosage.
"Veron GMS improves dramatically the texture properties of yeast raised baked goods," said Oscar Diez, sales development manager at the baking enzymes business unit.
"It is a natural product that, unlike chemical monoglycerides, does not have to be labelled as additive. That makes it a great marketing tool for our customers especially in countries where enzymes are considered to be processing aids."
The company claims that the ingredient can bring other benefits in addition to the positive effect on breadcrumbs. "Switching from monoglyceride to Veron GMS requires a fraction of the warehouse storage space needed for emulsifiers," claims the company.
"Whats more, while many powdered monoglycerides tend to be quite heat sensitive when stored too hot (causing lumping problems), this does not occur with Veron GMS. Finally, Veron GMS can even replace monoglycerides when used in combination with traditional anti-staling enzymes, such as maltogenic amylase, which makes the use of Veron GMS in such formulations trouble-free."
There are signs that the bakery enzyme market, which currently constitutes about a third of the overall food enzyme market, could make the strongest gains in the sector over the next few years. Recent research from market analyst group Frost and Sullivan pinpointed bakery enzymes as the fastest growing food enzyme segment with a compound rate of about 7.2 per cent.
The report valued the market for bakery enzymes at €32.7 million ($42.1 million) in 2003, expected to reach €53.3 million by 2010.