Boosting Dough Strength in Industrial Baking: Enzyme Solutions That Raise the Game

In today’s dynamic bakery industry, manufacturers face an ever-growing list of operational and formulation challenges. From flour variability and rising ingredient costs to process disruptions and changing consumer expectations, ensuring dough stability and product quality is more complex than ever. To stay competitive, bakeries need smart, reliable solutions that raise the game—delivering consistency, strength, and performance.

– The Challenge: Weak Dough and Processing Inconsistencies –

At an industrial scale, dough must endure a series of mechanical and environmental stresses—shock from conveyor belts, variability in proofing times, and sudden changes in processing conditions. Weak dough can collapse under these pressures, leading to poor volume, dense texture, and product loss. These issues are only magnified when using whole wheat or novel formulations.

To make matters more complex, today’s wheat supply chains are increasingly volatile, resulting in inconsistent flour quality. Producers often find themselves compensating with costly gluten or conventional emulsifiers. At the same time, consumers are seeking familiar, label-friendly ingredients, putting added pressure on manufacturers to deliver both performance and transparency.

– The Solution: Add Enzyme Innovation to the Mix –

IFF’s enzyme-based dough strengthening solutions offer an innovative, label-friendly* alternative to traditional additives. By unlocking the full potential of naturally occurring components in flour, these enzymes improve dough strength, processing tolerance, and consistency— reducing the need for added gluten or chemical emulsifiers.

Unlike single-function ingredients, enzyme complexes offer complementary benefits and can be tailored to deliver synergistic effects:

• Xylanases increase water availability and support gluten network formation.
• Lipases create in-situ emulsification, stabilizing gas cells for improved shock tolerance.
• Oxidases promote gluten cross-linking for improved dough strength and stability.

Together, these enzymes help build doughs that are robust, stable, and ready for industrial demands—even in high-fiber or whole wheat applications.

WATCH VIDEO: IFF in motion: Bakery Strengthening Solutions

IFF in Motion: Bakery Strengthening Solutions

– Benefits for Bakers and Millers –

For bakers, this means more consistent processing, reduced waste, and reliable product quality. Strengthened dough helps maintain the volume, shape, and softness of baked goods–even when flour characteristics vary or proofing times shift. This allows for more flexible, cost-effective formulations and reduces reliance on gluten and other expensive ingredients.

For millers, enzyme solutions help standardize flour performance across wheat varieties. By compensating for variable protein content and other inconsistencies, millers can deliver more predictable results to their customers—supporting a wider sourcing strategy while maintaining quality.

Whether you’re optimizing production or reformulating recipes, enzyme-based solutions allow manufacturers to deliver reliable results today, while supporting the demand for high-quality baked goods consumers love.

– A Proven Example: The ENOVERA™ Range –

At IFF, we offer optimized enzyme solutions that enhance gluten performance, stabilize processing, and reduce variations in baked goods. Based on an innovative proprietary lipase, our ENOVERA™ line is an enzyme-only dough strengthener tailored for industrial baking.

ENOVERA™ delivers the effectiveness of traditional strengtheners while offering a label-friendly solution that’s more acceptable to consumers. It performs reliably, even in challenging applications like whole wheat bread, helping maintain process tolerance and product integrity. Additionally, ENOVERA™ reduces reliance on gluten, promoting cost-effective and sustainable baking practices.

-Let’s Strengthen the Future of Baking, Together-

Strengthening solutions are essential for achieving high-quality, consistent, and appealing baked goods. By leveraging functional ingredients, bakeries can enhance dough performance, reduce waste, and deliver products that delight consumers.

At IFF, we tailor our offerings to meet your unique needs. Our state-of-the-art R&D and application expertise help us understand ingredient interactions, so we can support your specific baking requirements.

Reach out to your account manager or connect with us to learn how our enzyme solutions can help elevate your baking game.

_{*Label-friendly may have different meanings. In bakery, it is most commonly associated with the elimination or reduction of E-numbers and chemical additives.}

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