What are flour enzymes?

If you look closely at a bag of King Arthur flour, you may see an unfamiliar ingredient listed there: enzyme.  

We’re extremely thoughtful about every ingredient we use, across all King Arthur products and recipes. Our Food Philosophy guides every decision to ensure the quality of what we create, and that includes the enzymes in our flour.  

Here’s exactly what flour enzymes are and why they’re included in flour.  

What are enzymes?

Enzymes are found naturally in wheat, and thus are already present in flour. An enzyme is a protein produced by a living organism that acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction.  

The amount of enzymes in flour can vary based on growing conditions from harvest to harvest and year to year, so we add natural enzymes to correct for any variance and make sure our flour bakes more consistently — in other words, to make your baking even better. Those enzymes make up a very small portion of the total flour: less than 1%.  

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

What kind of enzymes does King Arthur use in its flour? 

The enzyme we use in our flour is technically called fungal alpha-amylase. That’s a pretty technical name, so it is commonly labeled simply as “enzyme” on ingredient labels. “Alpha-amylase” is the actual enzyme, and “fungal” refers to the fact that the living organism that produces the enzyme is a fungus, not unlike yeast or a mushroom. Amylase may sound unfamiliar, but your body makes and uses it every day. When you eat, it begins breaking starch into smaller carbohydrates so you can draw on it for energy. Amylases added to flour perform a similar function. 

Note: Though fungi are technically living organisms, enzymes are considered vegan, as they are not animal based. 

Malted barley is an alternative source of enzymes that King Arthur has used in the past, but we found the efficacy can vary batch to batch. By swapping malted barley for straight enzymes, the flour produces more consistent results for our bakers.  

Another reason we made the switch? Enzymes require less water and energy to produce than malt barley. As a Certified B Corporation, we're committed to being good stewards of our planet, so pivoting to a responsibly sourced ingredient with a smaller environmental footprint makes sense.  

Why are enzymes added to flour?  

To put it simply, enzymes are added to flours to improve baking performance — they do not change the flour's nutritional value. More specifically, they help create the foods that feeds yeasts. The enzymes break down complex starches into simpler sugars; this, in turn, provides yeast with readily available fermentable sugar (food!), which enables yeast to work continuously and supports both fermentation and crust browning. This results in improved bread volume and crumb texture. Most other manufacturers of flour and yeasted mixes use enzymes for the very same reasons.  

Ultimately, enzymes are yet another way for us to provide you with the most consistent flour — which means even better baking. 

Cover photo and food styling by Liz Neily.