The use of food additives remains an integral part of bakery improvement if we want to improve baked goods, create healthier ingredients, better match the taste of contemporary youth needs and provide an irresistible fresh experience. With the rapid development of the baked food industry and the widespread use of food additives, food additives have an irreplaceable role in improving the processing properties of baked dough, increasing specific volume and capacity, extending the freshness and shelf life of products, improving quality, and increasing the yield and labor productivity of finished products.
1. Baked goods and food additives
Our common baked goods are bread, cookies and cakes, which have become daily staples for fast-paced young people. The main auxiliary ingredients are sugar, oil, dairy products, etc. The quality of their products depends on the selection of raw materials and processing techniques, and also has a lot to do with the correct selection and rational use of food additives. In the case of the same conditions of raw and auxiliary materials, in order to make the product color, aroma and taste better, to keep the product soft and flexible, no water loss, no aging and fresh taste in a few days, it is necessary to add a variety of nature of food additives. All food additives included in GB2760-2007 "Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives" have undergone a strict toxicological approval process in China to ensure their safety. Therefore, as long as the food additives are used in strict accordance with the species, scope and dosage approved by the state, the safety is guaranteed. There are two hundred to three hundred kinds of food additives used in pasta processing abroad, and dozens in China.
2. Types and characteristics of additives
(1) Bulking agent
It can make wheat baked goods taste soft and delicious, volume expansion. In and the process of adding bulking agent, in the baking or frying process it is heated and decomposition, gas can make the embryo hair, volume expansion, the internal formation of uniform dense sponge-like porous organization, so that the baked food with loose, crispy or soft characteristics. China's permitted use of bulking agents are sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, calcium bicarbonate, aluminum potassium sulfate, potassium carbonate, precipitated calcium carbonate, compound relaxant.
(2) Sweeteners
Sweeteners are food additives that give food a sweet taste. Maltitol, xylitol, etc. are nutritive sweeteners, while non-nutritive sweeteners are natural licorice, stevia glycosides, rooibos extracts, etc. and synthetic sweeteners saccharin, aspartame, etc.
(3) Thickeners
Thickeners can improve the physical properties of food to increase the viscosity of food, in addition to maintaining the color, fragrance, taste and stability of fluid food, jelly food, but also to make the food has a lubricious and palatable feeling, and both emulsification, increase the luster of food, extend the shelf life of the role. Gelatin film, fish glue powder, agar and pectin are commonly used in pastry thickening agent.
(4) Coloring agent
Coloring agent for the food coloring substances, can increase people's appetite for food and stimulate appetite. According to the source is divided into two categories: chemical synthetic pigments and natural pigments. Natural pigments are relatively safe for humans.
(5) Preservatives
The main role of preservatives is to inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, in order to extend the shelf life of food and inhibit material corruption agents. The preservatives prescribed for use are benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate and other 25 kinds. The vast majority of packaged foods want to be preserved for a long time, often add food preservatives.
(6) Emulsifier
Emulsifier is the food processing can reduce the surface tension between the various constituent phases of the emulsion, the formation of a uniform dispersion or emulsion of substances. Emulsifier with emulsification, wetting, penetration, foaming, solubilization, lubrication and a series of roles, can improve the organization of food, simplify and control the processing of food, improve flavor and taste, improve food quality and extend shelf life, is widely used in baked goods processing and production. Commonly used are: phospholipids, sorbitan monolaurate, etc.
(7) Edible flavors
Edible flavor is mainly composed of four parts: main flavor, auxiliary ingredients, improver and fixing agent. The most essential part is the main flavor, in edible flavors plays the most basic and critical role, is the basic raw materials of various flavors. The role of auxiliary agents and modifiers is to modify the single odor of the main flavoring agent, so that the flavor of the flavor slightly changed, and thus more perfect. Strawberry, banana, chocolate, sweet orange flavoring, only need to add 0.3%-0.45% of the amount in the dough and sandwich, can give baked goods with attractive aroma.
(8) Enzyme preparations
Commonly used enzyme preparations include lipase, amylase and xylanase. Lipase can hydrolyze the fat in the raw material of flour to obtain fat, which will be used in bread and cake making to reduce the amount of fat needed in recipes. Amylase reduces the sugar requirement of baked goods. After yeast inactivation, amylase continues to produce sugar until the amylase is inactivated during baking, so that a small amount of sugar is available in the dough. Xylanase increases the fiber content of baked goods. In addition, in baked goods, glucose oxidase and fat oxidase are good for strengthening gluten; glutaminyl transferase can be used to strengthen wheat flour protein; protease peptide chain decomposition into small peptides and amino acids can soften the cookie dough and make it flow better; menthylase can reduce the content of acrylamide in baked goods, etc.
(9) Calcium sulfate
Calcium sulfate has two main uses in traditional flour improvers: 1. for diluting benzoyl peroxide in flour whitening agents, and 2. for strengthening nutritional elements in flour. Calcium sulfate, as a new type of flour improver, has four uses:1 . To improve the hardness of water; 2. To adjust the pH value of dough, provide an environment for yeast growth and improve enzyme activity. As yeast food, the bread additives currently developed at home and abroad contain ammonium salts and calcium salts to promote yeast reproduction and fermentation of yeast food. 4. nutritional fortification agent. Similarly, calcium sulfate is widely used as a calcium fortifying agent for flour.
3. All-natural and non-additive baked goods are better?
All-natural, non-additive baked goods are generally considered safer and more nutritious.
For health reasons, contemporary people prefer "zero-additive" foods in their food choices. Without the use of preservatives, food cannot be preserved for long periods of time and can only be consumed in a timely manner, and the food will spoil because it cannot be preserved for long periods of time. The other option is to use high salt and sugar to prevent food spoilage, this practice is not added, but it is also not good for human health. In addition, natural foods do not mean absolutely safe. Almost all functional food additives are both natural and chemically synthesized. For example, sweeteners include rosmarinic acid sweetener and steviol glycosides, which are contained in natural foods, as well as synthetic sodium saccharin, sweetener and aspartame. The International Codex Alimentarius Commission will conduct a risk assessment of the safety of food additives, and those that pass the risk assessment can be consumed with no safety concerns.
And in terms of nutrition, in fact, food additives can provide more nutrition, food additives in the nutrition fortification, can strengthen food nutrition, such as high-calcium milk, iodized salt. And for the dietary fiber intake is insufficient for this situation, some thickeners soy polysaccharide, guar gum, sodium alginate, pectin, etc., in improving the taste of food at the same time, can also help supplement some soluble dietary fiber.
4. Future development trend of baking and the use of food additives
(1) Better taste and "fresher" quality
Lower salt content, longer time to keep fresh, more mouth-watering appearance and color, is the direction of creating higher quality bread. A small amount of baking enzymes can significantly improve the characteristics of bread, making it more resilient. It also helps to delay the problem of aging of the internal structure of the bread, extending the freshness period of the bread considerably. It also prevents the bread from becoming sticky and improves the softness and elasticity of the bread. At the same time. Baking enzymes also improve the moistness and softness of cakes, keeping them in a "fresh-baked" condition. Baking enzymes can also reduce the use of emulsifiers and gluten, thus reducing ingredient costs.
(2) Nutritional fortification
Today's consumers are more aware of the importance of nutritional supplements in boosting the immune system and maintaining good health. The market demand for healthier breads and baked snacks containing vitamins and nutritional ingredients is growing. More people are actively seeking products rich in omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids and other vitamins. For baked goods manufacturers, offering consumers baked goods with omega-3, vitamin D-rich ingredients will be the way forward for baked goods in terms of nutritional offerings.
(3) Reducing carbon footprint
Baked goods that want to create 100% sugar-free sweetness can be achieved through sweeteners. Research has found that "sugar" causes accelerated aging, fat accumulation, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes. Compared to refined sugar, sugar substitutes can achieve the same sweetness as refined sugar by adding only a very small amount. It can control the intake of sugar, but at the same time can make people enjoy the sweet taste, help obese people control weight, help diabetics control blood sugar. In particular, dried sweet soup: natural steviol glycosides and glucose steviol glycosides have excellent performance in terms of safety, solubility and stability. The market has been developing rapidly in recent years.
Conclusion: As a convenient casual food, baked goods are being constantly recognized by the public, gradually replacing regular meals in the busy urban life. Consumer expectations for the taste, flavor and nutritional quality of bread will continue to rise. The use of healthier additives, such as vitamins, OMEGA-3, stevia, and minerals can enhance the nutritional value of baked products and improve consumers' digestibility, while meeting consumers' pursuit of taste and flavor. The future development of baked products will be accompanied by the rational use of food additives to meet market demand, to meet the new lifestyle of contemporary people, and will promote the introduction of more high-quality additives.
