Recent innovation in bakery ingredients has increasingly focused on improving processing performance while meeting clean-label expectations, with German ingredients company GoodMills Innovation introducing a wheat germ-based ingredient designed to improve dough handling and reduce excessive elasticity.
Called Good NatureRelax, the ingredient is derived from 100% stabilised, finely ground wheat germ and has been developed to help stabilise production processes by making dough easier to shape and process on mechanical and industrial equipment.
The company says excessive dough elasticity can result from factors including flour quality, added gluten, oxidising agents or enzymes, intensive kneading, and firm or cold doughs with short resting times.
“The consequences are well known, as the dough becomes harder to shape, sticks and needs to be reworked. As a result, piece weights vary, process disruptions occur more frequently and there is excess waste,” says the company.
GoodMills says Good NatureRelax combines two naturally occurring components found in wheat germ. Glutathione breaks down disulphide bonds within the gluten network, while the enzyme protease softens the dough by breaking down gluten protein chains.
“Both active ingredients complement each other in their mode of action and, together, support gentle dough softening,” says the company.
According to GoodMills, the performance of the ingredient relies on careful raw material selection. Wheat germ is sourced through the wider GoodMills Group’s network of 24 mills, where quality and regional variations are monitored before the selected germ is stabilised and micronised.
The company says the resulting dough is more pliable, smoother to handle and moves more consistently through production equipment. It says the ingredient enables dough to be shaped more cleanly with less tearing, supports more accurate weight portioning and reduces the need for manual correction during processing.
“In practice, the effect is immediately evident in several areas. The dough can be shaped more quickly and cleanly without tearing or needing to be corrected by hand,” says the company.
Good NatureRelax is designed for wheat dough applications including pretzels, croissants, baguettes, pizzas, tray bakes and rolled wheat pastries. Recommended addition rates range from 0.1% to 1% of milled grain products, depending on the application.
