Carole McKinnon

Oxido-Reductases and Lipases as Dough-Bleaching Agents

ABSTRACT To replace benzoyl peroxide as a bread dough-bleaching agent, pure and commercial oxido-reductases (peroxidases, catalases, glucose oxidases, lipoxygenase, and laccase) were screened based on degradation of β-carotene in a liquid system (5 μg of β-carotene/mL of 0.1M citrate phosphate buffer at pH 5.5 or 6.5) or dough. Peroxidases had the best bleaching activity; some catalases also showed bleaching potential in a liquid system but not in bread dough, suggesting that screening enzymes in liquid media has limited application for dough. In 100 g of flour, combinations of peroxidase (3,000 U), lipase (815–1,630 U), and linoleic acid (0–300 mg) completely bleached bread dough.

Effect of flour heating on dough rheology

Heating soft wheat flour at 80°C for 15 min has already been shown to improve its bread-making potential. In this study, flour was fractionated to determine the specific effect of heating on its constituents (gluten, starch, lipid, water-soluble). While gluten was easier to extract and its texture was slacker after heating, it significantly increased dough-mixing stability and development time (P<0.01). Heated water-soluble fraction containing pentosans partly decreased stability (P=0.06).