Monheim, August 26, 2005 - The international baking industry is becoming much more demanding in terms of its efficiency and performance requirements. Manufacturers are constantly looking for cost-effective ways to optimize production processes, for example by increasing the baking volume or improving the properties of dough. Global specialty chemicals supplier Cognis facilitates the production of short-shelf-life yeast-raised baked goods with its new Nutrilife® CCX range of high-performance enzymes. Cognis’ bakery enzymes help its customers to mix doughs that are dry, extensible, highly concentrated and easy to handle, and to achieve higher baking volumes, even when used in very low dosages.

In a dough the gluten quantity and quality is of utmost importance for the baking result. During mixing, fermentation and baking the gluten forms a three dimensional, layered network that keeps the carbon dioxide generated by the yeast inside the dough. The better this gluten network can develop, the more gas will be held inside the dough.

A flour component that disturbs this network formation are the so-called pentosanes – very long chained carbohydrate molecules. Some of these are water insoluble and others are water soluble. Especially, the water insoluble pentosanes strongly disturb the formation of the gluten network. Nutrilife CCX makes it possible to partly degrade them and create more water soluble pentosanes. This results in the following benefits:

• The gluten network can develop better and keep the gas of the yeast easier in the dough. This means more mixing tolerance, fermentation tolerance and volume.
• Water soluble pentosanes can bind more water than water insoluble ones. This improves the dough properties and results in drier doughs.
• Gluten - interactive emulsifiers such as DATEMs (e.g. Lametop® 300) have better access to the amino acids of the gluten protein. Therefore the synergistic effect of DATEMs and enzymes results in an even better stabilization of the volume. 

Low dosage, significant effect on volume
Cognis’ new low-dosage bakery enzymes can help to reduce costs in a wide range of short-shelf-life yeast-raised baked goods and types of flour. The performance of Nutrilife CCX was evaluated in tests carried out on a variety of yeast-raised products, such as bread rolls, baguettes, Turkish white bread and Vienna rolls. These showed that the same or better volume could be achieved with an enzyme dosage around ten times lower (between 10 and 30 ppm based on flour) than that of conventional pentosanases. The enzymes are particularly suitable for use in different types of flour and with special technologies such as retarded fermentation and frozen dough, where they likewise give higher stability and better performance than standard pentosanase.

Technical advice and tailor-made solutions
“Nutrilife CCX is a fast-growing range of products, designed for use in the production of short-shelf-life yeast-raised baked goods, where the need is for maximum cost-effectiveness at low dosages,” comments Marion Schlude, Marketing Manager Food. “This latest market-driven innovation is the result of our global market insights, and of the ongoing food technology development program at our international center of competence for Nutrition & Health in Illertissen, Germany. Our aim is to provide technical advice and tailor-made solutions, so that our customers get the most appropriate ingredient for their applications.”

Nutrilife CCX further expands Cognis’ established Nutrilife range of special bakery enzyme compounds, designed for application in a wide variety of baked goods with varying shelf lives. The enzymes are obtained in precisely managed and controlled fermentation processes. Their application in yeast-raised products can be either on their own or as component of bread improvers.

About Cognis
Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients. The company employs about 8,100 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Additionally, Cognis provides solutions for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles and plastics, as well as agriculture and mining.

Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2004, Cognis recorded sales of 3.07 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and exceptional items) of 362 million euros.

Contact
Andreas Funke, Product Group Manager Food Technology
Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Phone:  +49-7303-13306
E-mail:  andreas.funke@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com