Mühlenchemie's Intent to Regulate Falling Number of Flours and Improve Baking Performance

10 Mar 2016 --- Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co. KG has developed two new enzyme systems designed to lower the falling number of flours. The special feature of the two enzyme systems Deltamalt FN-A and FN-B is that they also improve the baking performance of flours.

In the past, millers had to combine different preparations; now they can improve the flour by adding just one enzyme system. With this innovation, Mühlenchemie has enlarged its range of products for optimizing the falling number of flour.

Dr. Lutz Popper, Head of R&D at Mühlenchemie, told FoodIngredientsFirst the challenge was to find the right enzyme protein in case of Alphamalt FN-A or the right enzyme pair in case of Alphamalt FN-B. “This had been attempted before for many years if not decades,” says Dr. Popper, “Both enzyme systems can be used either as standard enzymes for flour or bread improvers to address baking and rheological issues at the same time, or as problem solvers in case of flour qualities far off the standard.”

The volatility of wheat quality is likely to increase further in the near future, due to climate change, political or economical instability in wheat producing and consuming countries, increasing demand for food in general and new players in wheat trade with less strict quality guidelines. For millers, it is becoming more and more complex and expensive to treat flours in such a way that they meet customers’ expectations in respect of quality and economy. The more parameters that have to be balanced, the more difficult it also becomes to dose the additives needed for treating the flour. If the falling number of a flour has to be standardized, millers usually add malt flour made from germinated grain such as wheat, barley or rye and containing large amounts of α- and β-amylases. Other enzymes have to be supplemented, too, in order to adjust the baking performance of the flour. It is a major challenge to balance the systems properly to achieve the desired result.

Mühlenchemie’s two new enzyme systems are based on an innovative fungal amylase (Deltamalt FN-A) or a combination of enzymes naturally present in grain with fungal amylase (Deltamalt FN-B). Use of these products improves the baking performance of the flour and at the same time lowers the falling number.

For bakers and millers, the falling number is the measure of the flour’s natural enzymatic activity and is considered a quality parameter. With these new developments, Mühlenchemie has enlarged its toolbox for regulating the falling number. It also includes the series EMCEmalt, Alphamalt, Betamalt and Deltamalt for lowering the falling number and the Rowelit series for raising it. With these products, millers always have the appropriate solution at hand, enabling them to react to a multitude of different conditions.