Baking&Snack - March 2013 - 70

BAKERY SHORTENINGS

hydrogenated oils carry trans fats,
fully hydrogenated oils do not.
Hydrogenation, when taken to
completion, converts the trans
fats, too, and yields 100% stearic
acid, a saturated fat described as
cholesterol-neutral. This material,
which contains no trans fats, can
be used as a hard fat for preparation of bakery shortenings.
For example, ADM takes solid
fully hydrogenated soybean oil and
adds liquid oil such as soybean oil or
high-oleic soybean oil. It then enzymatically interesterifies the blend to
yield functional shortenings suitable
for a wide variety of applications, explained Michelle Peitz, technical sales
representative, ADM, Decatur, IL.

What is bakery shortening?
At its most basic, a bakery shortening
consists of low-melting-point liquid oils
and higher-melting-point solid fats that
form a soft, plastic material.
“Shortening is a matter of plasticity,
”
explained Dilip Nakhasi, director of innovation, Bunge Oils, Bradley, IL. “While
shortening is a generic term, it relates to
smoothness, spreadability and lubricity as
well as crystalline structure.
”
The solid fats — triacylglycerols, better
known as triglycerides — form a crystalline matrix that holds the liquid oils within
it, giving the characteristic creamy texture. In baked foods, shortenings impart
softness to the crumb structure, provide
lubricity to doughs, aid in aeration, stabilize batters and creams by emulsification,
improve overall palatability of finished
products and extend keeping quality.
Unlike frying oils commonly derived
from a single type of oilseed and reflecting
that source’s characteristics, shortenings
are compound products that can contain
many types of fats or processed fat components and, thus, do not reflect a single
type of fat.

/ Baking & Snack / March 2013

Such enzymatically interesterified
shortenings fit the Food and Drug
Administration’s trans-free labeling rule: less than 0.5 g trans fat per
serving. “They also meet the demands for North American-sourced
ingredients,” said Tom Tiffany,
senior technical manager, ADM.
Another choice for hardstock is
palm oil and its fractions, according to Ms. Peitz and Mr. Tiffany. “By
varying the level of fully hydrogenated vegetable oil or palm fractions
in the blend, ADM Oils can tailor the
melting and functional characteristics of the blend for the desired food
application,” Mr. Tiffany explained.
At Loders Croklaan, a member
of the IOI group, one of the largest
producers of palm oil in Malaysia,
the choice for zero-trans plastic fats
for baked foods is palm oil and its
many fractions. “Palm differs from
oilseeds in one critical parameter: It
is naturally semisolid,” said Gerald
McNeill, PhD, vice-president, R&D,
IOI Loders Croklaan Americas,
Channahon, IL.

Player seeding
Commodity soybean oil provided
the raw material for the partially hydrogenated shortenings of the past,
but today’s products benefit from
oilseed breeding programs — both
conventional and biotech — that
focus on specific traits. All vegetable
oils consist of fatty acids but vary in
proportions. Soy, canola and sunflower breeders selectively reduced
the plant’s output of saturated fats in
favor of forming mono- and polyunsaturated moieties. With less linolenic and more oleic content, these
new liquid oils provide healthier fat
profiles for bakery shortenings.
Low-linolenic soy was the first of
these new oilseeds and is used today in many breads, muffins, pizza
doughs and other baked foods.

For microwave popcorn, solid fats must be stable
so they won’t wick and compromise packaging.
Long unrefrigerated shelf life is needed, too.
Dow AgroSciences

“Low-linolenic provides enhanced
flavor stability as a replacement or
alternative for all bakery applications formulated with commodity
soybean oil,” Mr. Banks said.
High-oleic soy, now in final
commercialization
stages,
has
even greater potential, according
to Richard Galloway, president,
Galloway and Associates, LLC, Isle
of Pines, SC, and a consultant to the
United Soybean Board. “High-oleic
soy is an excellent liquid component
in bakery shortenings with its high
oxidative stability, clean flavor profile and low saturates,” he said.
Using canola and sunflower
bred to be high in monounsaturated fats, the Omega-9 Oils product line from Dow AgroSciences,
Indianapolis, is on the market now.
“Omega-9 Oils help cut saturated
fat content and gives the long shelf
life bakery products need because
it is so stable,” said Dave Dzisiak,
global commercial leader, grains
and oils, Dow AgroSciences. “It can
be combined with solid base stocks
to get the plasticizing properties
bakery products require and, thus,
compares well with previous hydrogenated shortenings.”

Mixed doubles
“The advantage of using Omega-9
Oils is that we can work with a lot of
different hardstocks, even going the
interesterified route,” Mr. Dzisiak
continued. Each use can be different. “For example, we worked with
a chocolate chip application that
cut the saturated fat content in half
by working with a palm blend and
Omega-9 Oils,” he said.
Such tailoring is the game plan
most formulators and shortening

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Baking&Snack - March 2013

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