GoodMills Innovation tackles protein fluctuations in wheat flour with Smart Wheat

16 May 2024 --- Germany-based GoodMills Innovation has formulated a high-protein flour for bakery applications that can “efficiently compensate” for quality fluctuations in wheat flour. The ingredient, Smart Wheat high-protein flour, contains a native protein that accelerates the gluten network formation in dough to improve its extensibility, resulting in easy-to-work, fluffy dough.

Smart Wheat finds application in a wide range of end products including small wheat, multigrain and wholemeal baked goods, yeast doughs and Berliners. It also enhances bread quality and pastries such as baguettes, rolls, laminated dough (croissants and Danish pastry) as well as fine baked goods such as brioche.

“Compared to doughs prepared with conventional gluten, Smart Wheat provides a predictable and reliable dough quality, which contributes significantly to final proving stability and allows for a higher volume of baked goods,” Max Weber, category manager, Baking and Snacks at GoodMills Innovation, tells Food Ingredients First.

“The protein is obtained naturally from the endosperm of the grain. Thanks to the process of air separation (a purely physical process), neither water addition nor drying processes are required (in contrast to the production of wheat gluten). Smart Wheat is therefore produced in an effective way.”

Fluctuating protein levels
The protein content of wheat flour has been on a decline in recent years, flags the company. It is believed this is as a result of EU fertilizer regulations, but climatic changes such as the increased occurrence of droughts can also have a negative impact on protein formation in wheat grain.

“Due to the EU fertilizer regulation (Nitrates Directive 91/676/EC), less nitrate is applied to the soil, which means that the wheat plants have less “foo”" (substrate) for protein formation. This leads to a reduction in the quantity and quality of protein in the wheat,” explains Weber. 

When using Smart Wheat, the end product has a correspondingly short list of ingredients, says Weber (Image credit: GoodMills Innovation).Periods of low rainfall, leading to drier soils also impair protein formation in the growth phase of wheat, he adds.

Fluctuating protein content in wheat flour impacts bakery manufactures during product formulation. They face difficulties in standardizing the baking processes as the amount present impacts water absorption, dough processing and baked product quality.

The use of Smart Wheat compensates for harvest-related fluctuations in the basic flour, which enhances the quality of the end products and efficiency of the baking process overall.

Gentle crushing for natural functionality
Smart Wheat is obtained from protein-rich, high-stretch wheat through physical fractionation, highlights the ingredient formulator.

“Unlike commercially available wheat gluten, GoodMills Innovation does not use water for rinsing or high temperatures during production. Instead, high-protein wheat varieties are finely ground using a gentle crushing process and the highly active, native protein particles are then separated.”

The air separation process preserves the natural functionalities of the wheat protein.

The recommended dosages of the ingredient varies from 2-10%, depending on the product type. The flexibility allows for manufacturers to adjust the amount according to the desired protein quality and specific requirements of the dough. 

Smart Wheat is formulated in conventional and organic quality and also helps manufacturers meet clean label demands.

Smart Wheat improves the final proving stability of dough and allows for a higher volume of baked goods (Image credit: GoodMills Innovation).“When the product is used, wheat flour that is already contained in the products is declared, so the ingredient wheat gluten can be omitted from the declaration. The end product has a correspondingly short list of ingredients,” says Weber.

Bakery innovation
When it comes to innovation in the bakery sector, Weber believes protein and fiber enrichment are important topics. 

“The combination of various protein sources, like mixes with pulses, as well as combinations of dietary fibers add value to existing and new products and are always in line with our purpose - Nourishment for a better, plant-based future,” he concludes.

Last month, the company unveiled its range of Tip-Top Ultra Clean release flours that reduce the fine dust produced in bakery facilities by 80% compared to standard wheat flour. The innovation minimizes employee risk of exposure to respiratory diseases while preventing mold formation.

Baked product functionality is also the focus of other companies like Kerry, which recently turned to enzyme technology to enhance the bread volume and crumb softness using its Biobake Fibre enzyme solution.

Meanwhile, Kemin Food Technologies tapped into a plant-extract blend to boost flavor and preserve freshness for bakery products and Supplant Foods leveraged chickpea flour to develop a vegan egg substitute for bakery items.

By Insha Naureen