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Application of Food Additive Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum) in Baking
Improve the hardness of water
Water is one of the four basic raw materials for bread processing. The water requires moderate hardness which is 8-16 degrees. Because the presence of calcium and magnesium in the hard water will strengthen the toughness of the gluten, making the bread feel rough, and make bread fermentation time longer. Soft water will make the dough too soft, sticky, shorten the fermentation time which makes bread easy to collapse. Hard water can be added in sodium carbonate to moderate softening; soft water can be added in calcium sulfate to increase the hardness which can increase gluten, improve the dough holding capacity, making bread bulky and loose.
Adjust the dough’s pH, provide yeast growth environment, improve enzyme activity
Calcium sulfate and other inorganic salts can adjust the pH value of the water, so that the yeast can grow in the optimum pH 5-6 environment. When the calcium ions in the dough reaches a certain concentration, the α-amylase can maintain proper conformation to maintain its maximum activity and stability. The α-amylase can break down the long chain of starch and decompose it into dextrin and a small amount of oligosaccharides, maltose and glucose which can provide carbon source for the yeast to produce CO2, so that the bread volume increases.
As a yeast food
Yeast plays an important role in the production of breads such as bread, pastries, etc., and its effects are as follows: biological bulking; dough gluten spread; produce volatile organic so that bread has a special scent and so on. Calcium sulfate as an inorganic salt for yeast growth can provide the sulfur and calcium nutrient elements needed for yeast growth and reproduction. These elements are mainly used as the structure of yeast cells, sulfur as the constituent of yeast protein, calcium is the second messenger of yeast cells and the base of a variety of active protein. It is also helpful for the penetration of nutrients into the cells. At present, the bread additives contain ammonium and calcium salts as yeast food to promote the propagation and fermentation of yeast.
Nutrition enhancer
Calcium sulfate as a flour calcium enhancer is widely used. According to the existing data (chemical, biochemical, toxicology, etc.), calcium sulfate in food additives has very low toxicity as food substances.
食品添加劑硫酸鈣（石膏）在烘焙中的應用
改善水的硬度
水是面包加工的四大基礎原料之一，面包加工用水要求硬度應適中，即8—16度。過硬水中鈣、鎂離子的存在會強化面筋的韌性，使面包口感變得粗糙，并使面包發(fā)酵時間延長；而過軟水會使面團過于柔軟、發(fā)黏，縮短發(fā)酵時間，面包易塌陷。對過硬的水可采取加碳酸鈉沉淀等方法進行適度軟化；過軟的水可通過添加微量硫酸鈣等方法來增加硬度，有利于增加面筋筋性，提高面團的持氣性，使得面包膨松和疏松。
調節(jié)面團的pH值，提供酵母生長環(huán)境，提高酶活性。
硫酸鈣等無機鹽可以調節(jié)水的pH值，使酵母在最適pH 5—6的環(huán)境中生長，充分發(fā)揮酵母活性。當面團中鈣離子達到一定濃度時，可使α-淀粉酶保持適當的構象，從而可以維持其最大的活性與穩(wěn)定性，α-淀粉酶可將淀粉的長鏈斷開，分解為糊精和少量低聚糖、麥芽糖和葡萄糖?？晒┙湍柑荚匆援a生CO2，使面包體積增大[5]。
作為酵母的食料
酵母在面包、糕點等需要發(fā)酵處理的面團生產中占有重要的地位，其作用很多如：生物膨松作用；面團面筋擴展作用；產生揮發(fā)性有機物使面包具有特殊的香味等。硫酸鈣作為酵母生長所需的無機鹽可提供酵母生長繁殖所需的硫、鈣營養(yǎng)元素，這些元素主要作為酵母細胞的結構，硫作為酵母蛋白質的組成成分，鈣是酵母細胞中第二信使也是多種活性蛋白質的輔基。同樣還能產生滲透作用，有利于營養(yǎng)物質滲透進入細胞內。目前國內外研制的面包添加劑都含有銨鹽和鈣鹽等酵母食料，以促進酵母的繁殖和發(fā)酵[5]。
營養(yǎng)強化劑
同樣硫酸鈣作為面粉的鈣強化劑普遍適用，硫酸鈣根據已有的資料（化學、生物化學、毒理學等）在食品添加劑中屬于毒性極低的食品物質。
