Guar gum is a texturiser and thickener commonly used in bread formulation.
Other hydrocolloids deemed ineffective replacer
Henk Adriaasen, regional sales manager, Baking Enzymes, EMEA at DSM Food Specialties toldBakeryAndSnacks.com that guar gum’s effect of dough rheology in bakery applications was difficult to replicate.
He said that other hydrocolloids had been the original solution, but these had failed to mimic the function of guar gum. Enzymes, he claimed, were the answer.
Crusty roll example
In the toolkit, DSM gives an example of a crusty roll that uses the company’s enzyme and starch blends (Extraferm, BakeZyme X-Pan, Pectinase) to bring down guar gum content from 0.3% to 0.15% while producing similar texture and other dough properties.
The company claims replacements such as these can help bakers achieve savings between 25 and 40%.
Closing gap on guar
Bert Strubbe, Product Application Specialist at DSM Food Specialties, said: “There will always be a difference between original performance with guar and alternatives.”
“The toolkit was developed to close the final gap to what our customers can achieve with our enzymes.”
He added that the solution in the toolkit could not achieve 100% guar replacement, but could achieve similar results to guar at 50% replacement.
Strubbe’s colleague Adriaasen admitted there were many other guar gum replacers on the market but said that DSM’s enzymes stood out because they were declaration-free, meaning they do not appear on the ingredients list.
DSM is a speciality ingredients firm headquartered in the Netherlands. It employs around 22,000 people and has annual net sales of around €9bn.
The toolkit comes as guar gum sales to the food industry are declining due to preference given to oilfield buyers, which has led to price hikes.
