Luc Casavant has dedicated more than 40 years to the baking industry, developing ingredient solutions that will shape the industry for many years to come.

His baking career began at his local town bakery, where he worked for five years in various hands-on roles ranging from baker to production supervisor. Casavant then left the bakery to attend college. 

“When I started my higher education studies, I aimed for a formation that would be relevant to a position in the baking industry, allowing me to leverage my previous work experience in this field,” he said.

Casavant attended Vieux-Montréal College in Montréal, where he studied applied science. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in applied enzymology at the University of Quebec at Montréal. 

“By far, my decision to return to school full-time between the ages of 27 and 34 has significantly shaped my current position and achievements,” he reflected. 

After graduating, Casavant joined Lallemand Baking as a test baker. Over his 28 years at the company, Casavant said his passion and dedication allowed him to progress through the ranks, including roles as lab manager, senior baking technologist and his current position as director of baking applications. 

Casavant’s current work is focused on researching and developing solutions for baked good applications. Recently, he developed an enzymatic solution, Essential FSA 2013, that stabilizes yeast fermentation in low and no-sugar-added doughs like keto bread and can reduce overall product sugar content while maintaining sweetness.

Here, Casavant details the numerous ways enzymes, including Essential FSA 2013, can improve the quality and consumer appeal of baked products.

What benefits do enzymes provide to baked goods?

Enzymes have a long history of providing key benefits in the baking industry. Think about diastatic malt flour or enzyme-active soy or pea flour, which have been used in baked goods for years. Three decades ago, Lallemand recognized the immense potential of enzymes for the baking industry. Today, enzymes play a crucial role by enhancing dough strength, providing emulsifying properties, exerting oxidative effects and contributing to crumb softening. In my opinion, enzymes represent the future of the food industry and will continue to shape the way we create and enjoy baked goods.

Why may bakers look to reduce sugar content? 

The World Health Organization recommends the importance of reducing free sugar to less than 10% of total energy intake. Both Canada and the United States have taken significant steps to address sugar consumption through revised nutrition labeling.

In Canada, this includes posting the percent daily value for added sugar, mandatory front-of-pack labeling and ingredient list grouping. In the United States, added sugar must be declared. These initiatives aim to raise awareness for consumers to make informed choices about their sugar intake.

What are the challenges of reducing sugar in low/no sugar doughs like keto bread?

In low-carb bread or keto bread formulations, yeast is often deprived of readily fermentable sugars. This occurs especially when ingredients like calcium propionate or fermented wheat are added to the formula. As a result, the yeast becomes maltose negative, meaning it is incapable of fermenting the available maltose — a sugar it typically relies on for fermentation. Starch-modifying enzymes can be considered to address this challenge to convert damaged starch (and sometimes even resistant starch) into fermentable sugars. These enzymes help the dough proof to its normal height while reducing the residual carbohydrate content.

How does Essential FSA 2013 help stabilize yeast fermentation and reduce sugar content in these breads? 

This enzyme-based solution stabilizes yeast fermentation in low sugar (1% to 2%) or no sugar added bread that contains calcium propionate. All yeast strains very slowly become maltose adaptive or completely maltose negative, meaning that they cannot ferment the flour maltose (5% to 6% maltose is usually available when no sugar is added) in the presence of calcium propionate or fermented wheat.

These conditions result in several challenges. The yeast will use preferably the 1% to 2% available gluco-fructosans (monosaccharides from damaged starch) of the flour, but this is not enough to proof to normal desired height or volume. The dough will rise to a certain height and will continue very slowly or stop proofing because of substrate limitation (the yeast cannot ferment maltose). It becomes difficult to proof to desired height even by adding more yeast and sometimes despite the addition of 1% to 2% added sugar when possible. Yeast is deprived of food. 

Our Essential FSA 2013 dough conditioner will produce sugar/substrate (glucose) so the yeast doesn’t get into substrate limitation and proof steadily and constantly to desired proof height without the need to add sugar.

Depending on the dough conditioner level, the sugar produced in the dough will be consumed by the yeast as it becomes available, or there could be an excess sugar (not consumed by the yeast) produced with the Essential FSA 2013 that will be left in the final bread.

=How can this enzymatic solution help with sugar management in other baked goods, such as high-sugar breads or brioche?

In high-sugar bread and brioche recipes, a substantial quantity of sugar is added to the dough at the beginning of mixing. This high sugar content can, however, create a challenge for yeast fermentation due to the osmotic pressure it imposes. Usually, higher levels of yeast are used to ferment the dough within an acceptable proof time. This led us at Lallemand Baking to the development of Essential FSA 2013.

Essential FSA 2013 helps reduce the sugar added all at once in the dough, decreasing the osmotic pressure on the yeast. This means that the yeast faces less stress and can function optimally during fermentation. The enzymes in Essential FSA 2013 constantly produce sugar throughout the process, providing a steady supply of fermentable sugars, promoting efficient fermentation. The final sweetness of brioche (or any sweet bread) can be fine-tuned by varying the level of Essential FSA 2013. This allows bakers to achieve the desired flavor. Essential FSA 2013 not only improves bread volume and crust coloration but also provides a smart solution for managing sugar levels in high-sugar doughs. 

What other benefits can this solution offer?

In high-sugar bread, reducing the quantity of added sugar by producing it with Essential FSA 2013 can allow for proofing time reduction or yeast reduction while maintaining the sweetness level. In the case of sugar replacement, it can be a cost-reduction initiative as sugar is increasing in price lately.