World Grain - December 2008 - 37

PRODUCTS AND METHODS

BestFlours No. 11/08

The emulsiﬁer booster

Alphamalt EFX Mega
Alphamalt EFX Mega makes use of the natural potential of emulsifying substances in wheat ﬂour in order to increase
fermentation tolerance and the stability of the dough and ultimately to achieve a "mega volume". Optimizing the
emulsiﬁers and lipids naturally present in the ﬂour in this way also makes it possible to reduce the amount of synthetic
emulsiﬁers added and thus cut costs.

For a long time the baking potential of
wheat-ﬂour lipids was underestimated.
Scientiﬁc investigations show that some
lipids (fat-like substances) have a positive effect on baking properties whereas
others tend to have a negative effect on
the resulting products. With the development of Alphamalt EFX Mega we have
succeeded in putting these scientiﬁc
ﬁndings to practical use in ﬂour standardization.
As far as quantity is concerned, lipids
are insigniﬁcant compared to other constituents of wheat ﬂour such as starch
and proteins. Wheat ﬂours contain
about 1.5 - 2.5 % total lipids, depending
on their level of extraction. These are a
complex mixture of polar and non-polar
lipids which interact with the starch or
gluten proteins in different proportions.
What are polar and non-polar lipids?

on baking properties already, leads to
substances that are more effective still.
When one or both of the fatty acids are
split off, molecules with stronger polar
properties form and enter ﬁrmer bonds.
What is Alphamalt EFX Mega?
Achievement of the optimum bread volume depends on the ratio of non-polar
to polar lipids and their amount, non-polar lipids having an unfavourable effect
on bread volume. Alphamalt EFX Mega
takes the strongly heterogeneous nature

The action of Alphamalt EFX Mega
The selected and standardized esterase
activities of Alphamalt EFX Mega have
the effect of splitting the non-polar
lipids naturally present in the ﬂour into
mono- and diglycerides; at the same
time the polar lipids are converted into
more strongly polar and thus more hydrophilic substances. This results in
a noticeable overall shift towards the
baking-active polar lipid classes with
emulsiﬁer-like structures and doughstabilizing effects similar to those

120
100

Height of Dough
Development [mm]

The importance of the ﬂour's
natural lipids

80
60
40
20
0

Non-polar lipids consist of a glycerol
molecule esteriﬁed with three fatty acids.
Because of their molecular structure
these lipids are hydrophobic. It is the
absence of differently charged groups of
molecules that gives this lipid fraction
its non-polar character.
The polar lipids in wheat ﬂour mainly
fall into the categories "glycolipids" and
"phospholipids" (lecithins). These (polar) lipids are made up of glycerol too,
but it is esteriﬁed with only one or two
fatty acids and a polar group that contributes to the surface activity of these
substances and thus their emulsifying
effect. Enzymatic modiﬁcation of this
wheat lipid fraction, which has an effect

0.5

1.5

2.5

Time of Fermentation [h]
Reference

EFX Mega 25 ppm + 0.12 % DATEM

DATEM 0.24 %

EFX Mega 50 ppm

Dough development curves resulting from the use of Alphamalt EFX Mega, DATEM, and
a combination of EFX Mega and DATEM
of the wheat lipids in respect of polarity
into account, and also their interaction
with other constituents of wheat ﬂour.
Alphamalt EFX Mega is an esterase
complex. The esterase group comprises
enzymes that split both dissolved and
non-dissolved or emulsiﬁed substrates.
Lipases and phospholipases belong to
the enzyme family of the esterases.

familiar from the emulsiﬁer DATEM.
It is assumed that the modiﬁed wheat
lipids help to create a stable, elastic ﬁlm
around the gas bubbles that form during
fermentation and the early phase of
baking - rather like bubble-gum.
The "encapsulation" and stabilizing
of the expanding gas cells results in
increased fermentation tolerance
and greater gas retention capacity of
the dough.

World Grain - December 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - December 2008