Bread ImproverS
a bread improver is a flour-based blend of several components with specific functional properties designed to modify dough characteristics and give quality attributes to bread. Bread improvers are mostly made from a combination of enzymes in addition to various emulsifiers, soya flour and malt flour for their dough conditioning and improving properties.
bread improvers have a range of functional benefits; they can enable the rapid development of a dough through to the finished baked product by reducing the time required to achieve a comparable result from the traditional long fermented doughs of the past.
The main ingredient in bread improver is yeast. It usually also contains emulsifiers, which help to make the loaf soft and fluffy. It may also contain an enzyme which can improve the texture of the bread as well as help it to last longer, or asorbic acid (vitamin C), which can help the dough to rise. When baking yeast-leavened bread, the yeast ferments the sugars in the flour and releases carbon dioxide. Because the dough is elastic and stretchable, the carbon dioxide cannot escape. The expanding gas causes the dough to inflate or rise. Yeast is also an essential ingredient in brewing beer. The yeast eats the sugar in beer and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol.
