With an increasing consumer desire for natural products and better mouthfeel there are few reasons why bakers should not be using enzymes or yeast instead of additives to improve their products. Charlene Mitchell takes a look at how the market is expanding.

Almost half of bakeries know very little to nothing about the advantages of enzymes in the production of baked goods, according to a survey carried out earlier this year by Novozymes and European Baker.
Therefore, there is still a lot of room to increase the understanding of how enzymes can be beneficial, and with the demand for natural products on the up, bakeries need to grab the chance now if they want to stay ahead of the game.
Novozymes is the world leader in bio-innovations and invests 14 per cent of revenue in R&D, enabling them to launch eight to 10 new products every year.
Pål Ladsten, Regional Marketing Manager for Cereal Food, said: "There's an increased demand for clean labels, which means labels on the final product that are free from E numbers.
"We ran a consumer study last year with 1400 consumers in which 50 per cent of respondents said they would have preference for a product free from E numbers.
"That number is increasing; therefore, bakeries and bakery ingredients suppliers are showing increased interest in using enzyme systems over traditional additives because enzymes are not labelled on the final product.
"Enzymes have a multitude of benefits. From the consumer angle they can extend shelf life of baked goods from three to 10-14 days, dependent on the product and recipe.
"For industrial bakeries, the most important benefits are to do with dough handling, process tolerance and dough machine ability. At mills, you can use enzymes to adjust fluctuation in flour quality.
"Enzymes have the ability to strengthen the stability of the dough. During proofing and transportation on belts inside the bakery dough should not collapse due to the mechanical stress and you can apply enzymes to give it certain strength.
"Another benefit is at the point of the milling sector for flour supplementation. Enzymes can correct the flour to give it a consistent baking performance, independent of the fluctuating flour quality - this is the oldest enzyme usage."
However, Ladsten does admit that enzymes are not yet able to replace all traditional additives, such as ascorbic acid.
"Enzymes can't entirely replace this. It's not achievable today, but we are looking at the synergistic effects of enzymes to get closer."
Novozymes's Lipopan range is used for dough strengthening and is hugely successful, having now reached a level of about 26-30 per cent replacement of traditional emulsifiers in Europe.
The company's latest products, GoldCrust and Novamyl Pro, were both launched in November last year during the FIE.
GoldCrust has a number of benefits, including reduced baking time, enhanced crust colour and yeast boosting.
Novamyl Pro is used to prolong the shelf life and is the latest innovation in freshkeeping from Novozymes. It builds on the success of Novamyl 10,000 which has been on the market for two decades.
Ladsten said: "Novamyl 10,000 is the most widely applied enzyme for extended shelf life globally, used in all kinds of baked goods.
"Novamyl Pro gives an even better softness of the bread crumb and springiness.
"It also provides a better moistness leading to a better eating quality."
Danisco, another world leader in enzymes, has also developed a fresh keeping enzyme, which was launched at IBIE in Las Vegas.
Aart Mateboer, Business Unit Director Food Enzymes, said: "The PowerFresh bakery enzyme with G+ technology helps provide superior quality over a longer period. "The good thing about this new product is it will enable bakers to get 14 days freshness.
"With other enzymes you can only get seven to 10 days shelf life
"It is also used to improve the moistness, flexibility and crumb structure of the bread.
"This range really changes the benchmark in what you can achieve. We are moving the bar up.
"Enzymes are definitely a growing market, especially in industrial baking, where they are already used a lot," added Mateboer. "We are seeing about 8 per cent growth year on year.
"The industry can expect more developments in coming years that will set even higher standards in the bakery industry."
As well as selling enzymes, Danisco also make food ingredients with enzymes incorporated in them.
Their Grindsted Fiberline range is one example; this blend of ingredients makes more of healthier bread.
It is used in rye bread to make it softer, moister and milder in flavour so the final products have the qualities of white wheat bread that consumers prefer. It can also be used in oat bread to double the oat content of bread recipes and obtain the high volume and moist texture that many wholemeal recipes lack - with up to two weeks of soft, fresh quality.
Enzymes are also widely recognised as an ecological choice for manufacturers looking to take a more sustainable approach to business.
With the latest research demonstrating that 70 percent of consumers now consider sustainability when choosing a food product, DSM Food Specialties is showcasing solutions that can help businesses attain sustainability and efficiency goals.
Mario Pires, Business Industry Manager, Enzymes, said: "The tide is already turning, with 85 percent of manufacturers having maintained or increased their investment in sustainability during the economic downturn.
"As part of our vision of a sustainable future, we're continually studying the environmental impact of our products.
"Recent lifecycle analyses have yielded tangible evidence, confirming enzymes' pivotal role in addressing ecological concerns.
"Baking enzyme Panamore, for example, enables bakers to achieve 80 per cent fewer CO2 emissions, 90 per cent less fossil fuel usage and 70 per cent less respiratory inorganic emissions."
The company has also recently added a second product to this range - Panamore Spring. This is an enzyme preparation which offers bread manufacturers a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to the emulsifiers CSL and SSL.
Yeast can also be used to improve bread quality, and as well as being the primary leavening system, it can also be used to enhance flavour in some products.
Savoury ingredients specialist, Synergy, have created a range of yeast extracts to do just this.
Ian Butler, Innovations Director, said: "Today's consumer is becoming increasingly aware of nutritional content as they strive to eat more healthily."
Datamonitor carried out a survey last year which highlighted the continuing trend in demand for reduced salt and fat savoury food options, forcing manufacturers to reformulate their existing offers.
"However, it is also important to maintain a focus on flavour and sensory experience; the consumer still expects great taste," added Butler.
"To cater for both nutritional and flavour demand, innovation in the savoury bread and snack category has driven an increase in flavour varieties, drawing inspiration from cuisines across the world."
Synergy Saporesse products are a range of natural lactic yeast extracts which offer taste enhancement, added mouthfeel and salt/sodium reduction along with clean label appeal and cost-in-use savings.
Used in a wide range of savoury products in Europe and Asia, Saporesse ingredients enable manufacturers to tap into the trend to create natural, authentic and better for you savoury snacks and breads.
Synergy has recently launched new Saporesse Plus (241) which enhances overall flavour and confers a mature toasted cheese note and Saporesse Plus (242) which builds mouthfeel and creaminess, while adding a mature cheesy flavour but without the toasted notes.