ANSWER
Bread improvers (also sometimes known as dough conditioners) are technically sophisticated blends of functional ingredients, which if formulated correctly, will enhance the development of dough structure, facilitate trouble-free production and provide the desired result of consistent products having optimal quality at the lowest possible cost (Pourfarzad et al., 2014).
There are different types of bread improver ingredients. The functional ingredients used in improvers vary but typically contain one or more ingredients. These additives include enzymes, emulsifiers, soy flour, oxidants and reductants. They are essential in improving dough machinability, reducing resting time and improved the shelf life, volume, crust color, crumb whiteness, aroma and flavor (Moayedallaie et al., 2010).
There are various kinds of enzymes used in baking as breadmaking improvers. α- and β-amylases can improve the gas retention capacity of the dough, increased specific loaf volume, and reduced crumb hardness and staling rate (Matsushita et al., 2017).
Emulsifiers used in bread baking generally serve the functions of dough strengthening and crumb softening. Dough strengthening is the result of increased interactions with the proteins in the dough. Some commonly used emulsifiers in bakery formulations include diacetyl tartaric esters of monoglycerides (DATEM), sodium stearoyl lactylate (SSL), polysorbates, mono- and diglycerides, various monoglyceride derivatives, lecithin, and sucrose esters. Emulsifiers DATEM and SSL are dough strengtheners that can improve the volume, texture and staling profile of whole wheat bread (Tebben et al., 2018).
Gums and ascorbic acid also been applied in bakery to control the moisture mobility and the gas retention of dough, improve its texture and retard its staling. The addition of ascorbic acid could positively influence on crumb hardness. On top of that, as it also increases the final product quality due to the ability of ascorbic acid to improve gluten (Sheikholeslami et al., 2018).
In conclusion, we could use several types of improvers in combination to provide the greatest improvement to bakery products.
References
Tebben, L., Shen, Y. & Li, Y. (2018). Improvers and functional ingredients in whole wheat bread: A review of their effects on dough properties and bread quality. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 81, 10-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2018.08.015
Sheikholeslami, Z., Karimi, M., Komeili, H. R. & Mahfouzi, M. (2018). A new mixed bread formula with improved physicochemical properties by using hull-less barley flour at the presence of guar gum and ascorbic acid. LWT – Food Science and Technology, 93, 628-633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2018.04.001
Matsushita, K., Santiago, D. M., Noda, T., Tsuboi, K., Kawakami, S., & Yamauchi, H. (2017). The bread making qualities of bread dough supplemented with whole wheat flour and treated with enzymes. Food Science and Technology Research, 23(3), 403-410. https://doi.org/10.3136/fstr.23.403
Pourfarzad, A., Khodaparast, M. H. H., Karimi, M. & Mortazavi, S. A. (2014). Optimization of a novel improver gel formulation for Barbari flat bread using response surface methodology. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 51(10), 2344-2356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-012-0778-9
Moayedallaie, S., Mirzaei, M. & Paterson, J. (2010). Bread improvers: Comparison of a range of lipases with a traditional emulsifier. Food Chemistry, 122(3), 495-499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.10.033
