Industry profile

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DuPont Maria Brandt joined DuPont in 2008 as Global Product Manager for Bakery Enzymes. She is responsible for managing the product portfolio and new product development. Prior to joining DuPont she worked at Royal Unibrew and was responsible for their trade marketing in the hotel and restaurant industry, managing key brands and the larger clients. Maria holds a Masters degree in business and marketing from the Southern University of Denmark in Odense, Denmark. DuPont work with millers, improver houses, and industrial bakeries. Globally, they are a leading player in enzymes with significant investment in food, but also animal nutrition, personal care, detergents and biofuels.

What role do enzymes play in the baking process?

Enzymes are naturally present in flour, yeast, and several other common raw materials used in bakery products and have been used for thousands of years. Commercial industrial enzymes were introduced 35 years ago as a way to get the benefits of enzymes in a controlled and safe way. Enzymes play an important role in the vast majority of baked goods to achieve the wanted performance in both dough and bread, for example, higher volume, better dough handling and improved softness. Bakery enzymes such as amylases help modify starch during the baking process. Slowing starch retrogradation, they ensure bread stays soft and retains its original freshness for longer, thereby reducing food waste, energy consumption and carbon footprint. Enzymes used in cakes and muffins enhance softness, moisture and reduce crumbling, helping improve taste perception and convenience in the on-the-go market. Using enzymes such as proteases and xylanases in products like biscuits and crackers also provides a number of benefits during production; the use of these enzymes can improve the dough handling and make sure the final product has the right shape. Other baked goods that can benefit in similar ways to bread are buns and rolls, bagels, thins, pretzels, English muffins, and tortillas.

What are the latest innovations regarding enzymes at DuPont for food and bakery applications?

In 2014, we launched a new cellulase, DuPont™ Danisco® POWERBake® 9000, especially for wholegrain, oat and rye bread applications. We noted consumers’ growing interest in healthier high grain content breads Enzymes can help give whole grain bread a higher volume, lighter texture or crumb structure, resulting in a better eating experience. This year we are commercialising new enzymes under the name DuPont™ Danisco® POWERMill™, especially for wheat milling customers. These enzymes help improve wheat processing efficiency by enhancing flour extraction, reducing wheat conditioning time and reducing energy consumption.

62 | November 2015 - Milling and Grain

Consumer scrutiny of product labels and product quality is ever increasing coupled with shops such as Whole Foods stocking ‘clean label’ products only. What does this mean for the market and how can enzymes assist in the elimination of certain additives? Enzymes are processing aids, not ingredients. Current labelling legislation does not require them to be listed on product labels because they are either not active in the finished product and/or they have already performed the action they were intended to perform. Enzymes often perform different tasks from emulsifiers and in most cases actively work with additives to provide a given effect in the finished product. The confusion arises when enzymes are presented as being equal to, or in some cases alternatives to, additives - this leads to the misconception that enzymes are additives.

Can you tell us about the current product range of enzymes offered by DuPont and their applications?

DuPont has a very strong baking enzymes portfolio in all main categories: alpha-amylases for flour, softeners and strengtheners. We focus on finding solutions to meet the specific needs of each application. For example, the DuPont™ Danisco® POWERFresh® product range for bread and buns; POWERSoft® Cake product range for cakes and POWERFlex® product range for tortillas and flat bread. Furthermore, we have introduced the POWERBake® and the