Sorbitol Powder E420 Humectant for Frozen Dough and Par-Baked Bread, Freeze-Thaw Stability, 20-60 Mesh, 25kg Kraft Bag

Product Overview

Frozen dough and part-baked bread rarely fail on the spec sheet. They fail on water. In frozen storage, free water turns into ice crystals that rupture the gluten network and reduce yeast viability, so the bake comes out with less volume and a tighter crumb. In part-baked bread held under chill, water migrates from crumb to crust, and the crust that was crisp at the end of the bake goes leathery in the bag.

Sorbitol powder E420 addresses both, because it binds water in a form that resists freezing and resists migration. This grade is aimed specifically at that duty: a free-flowing crystalline powder at 20-60 mesh that disperses into the dry blend, dissolves during mixing, and holds moisture in the crumb through the freeze-thaw cycle.

Identity. Sorbitol (D-glucitol), food grade E 420 (i) / INS 420, CAS 50-70-4, HS code 29054400, molecular formula C6H14O6, molecular weight 182.2. White crystalline powder, odourless, freely soluble in water, giving a clear and colourless solution.

Four properties that matter in a frozen bakery system.

It binds free water.

• Sorbitol holds water by hydrogen bonding, which reduces the amount of water available to form ice. Less freezable water means smaller crystals and less mechanical damage to the gluten network across repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

It is not fermentable by baker's yeast.

• Baker's yeast cannot metabolise sorbitol, so the sorbitol you add stays in the dough as a humectant and does not compete with the fermentable sugars the yeast needs. In long cold fermentation and frozen dough, where yeast activity is already under stress, this matters.

It is non-reducing.

• No free aldehyde group, so it does not enter Maillard browning with the amino acids in flour and milk solids. In part-baked bread this keeps early crust colour in check during the partial bake, leaving colour development for the final bake at the point of sale.

It interrupts staling.

• Sorbitol is understood to interfere with amylopectin recrystallisation and slows the firming that follows cooling, which extends the window in which a part-baked or thawed product still feels fresh.

Supply form. 25 kg kraft paper bag with food-grade PE inner liner, unprinted. Produced in an ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 plant; Halal and Kosher certified.

Technical Specification

Typical Certificate of Analysis

Typical values from a routine production batch, shown so you can see the working margin against specification. The Certificate of Analysis shipped with your lot is the binding document.

Applications

Frozen dough - portion dough, rolls, pizza bases, laminated pastry

The damage in frozen dough happens in two places: the gluten network, and the yeast. Ice crystals physically puncture the gluten film, and the yeast loses viability with each cycle as ice forms inside and around the cells. Reducing freezable water reduces both.

Dose sorbitol into the dry blend with the flour so it is uniformly distributed before the water goes in. Expect to raise added water slightly, because sorbitol binds water that would otherwise be free in the dough - in practice around 1 to 2 percent of flour weight. Judge by dough feel and by the farinograph or mixograph curve, not by the number alone.

Freeze-thaw trial protocol we suggest. Run the comparison in your own plant. Two doughs, identical apart from the sorbitol addition, subjected to five freeze-thaw cycles of 24 hours at -18 C followed by 12 hours at 4 C. Measure proof height and bake volume per cycle, and score crumb grain and crust colour at the end. The point where the control dough starts to collapse is where the sorbitol dose shows its value.

Part-baked and part-baked frozen bread

In part-baked bread the enemy is migration, not freezing. Water moves from crumb to crust during chilling and cold storage, and the crust loses crispness within days. Sorbitol holds water in the crumb phase and reduces that gradient.

Two processing notes. Because sorbitol is non-reducing, crust colour after the partial bake stays paler than with a reducing-sugar humectant, and colour is completed in the final bake - so set your partial-bake time and temperature against a final-bake test, not against the part-baked appearance on its own. Because sorbitol is hygroscopic, cool the product before bagging and keep the packing room below about 60 percent RH, otherwise the crust picks up surface moisture before the bag is even sealed.

Retarded and long cold fermentation dough

Sorbitol does not feed the yeast, so it extends the fermentation window without shifting the sugar balance of the formula. Useful in retarded dough where you want a longer cold hold and a stable gas production curve at the end.

Sugar reduction in bakery

Sorbitol at 50-60 percent of the sweetness of sucrose works best as a partial replacement rather than a full one. Replacing 20 to 50 percent of the sucrose keeps sweetness close to target while adding the moisture and freeze-thaw benefits. Full replacement needs a high-intensity sweetener on top and will change dough rheology, browning and volume - test it, do not assume it.

Starting dosage

Starting points for a pilot batch, not a fixed recipe. Your flour, hydration, yeast level and freezing regime will move these.

Choosing it against other humectants

We supply both the powder and the 70 percent solution from the same plant, so a powder-versus-liquid trial does not mean two suppliers and two document sets.

What this grade will not do

It will not rescue a dough that is already over-frozen or badly frozen.

• Slow freezing at insufficient air velocity does damage that no humectant reverses. Fix the freezer first.

It will not replace an improver system.

• For very high freeze-thaw counts, emulsifiers and oxidants still carry most of the volume protection.

It is not a sweetener at sugar strength.

• At 50-60 percent of sucrose, expect to reformulate sweetness, not just swap weight for weight.

It carries energy.

• As a polyol it is not calorie-free, and markets that require a polyol content statement on pack will expect it declared.

What to send us for a quotation

Application (frozen dough, part-baked, other), mesh range, dose you are trialling, packing preference (25 kg kraft bag, 25 kg carton, 1000 kg jumbo bag), quantity for the first order and destination port. With those lines we can quote a grade that fits rather than a price per tonne.

Quality Control

• Produced in facilities certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 22000. Halal and Kosher certified.
• Every lot released against the BP, USP, EP and FCC monographs, with assay, moisture, reducing sugar, heavy metals, arsenic, lead, nickel, chloride, sulphate, residue on ignition and microbiological counts tested before packing.
• Batch-specific Certificate of Analysis issued with each shipment; the retained sample and the COA trace back to the same lot number.
• Retained samples kept from each batch for the full shelf-life period, so a query eighteen months later can still be checked against the original material.
• Non-GMO statement and allergen statement available for your market on request. The material is produced from glucose by catalytic hydrogenation.
• Pre-shipment sample dispatched with the matching COA, so your trial batch and your documentation start from the same lot.

Packaging & Shipping

Storage & Handling

• Store in a cool, dry, ventilated warehouse, below 25 C and below 60 percent relative humidity, sealed and off the floor.
• Shelf life is 24 months in unopened original packing. Once opened, reseal the inner liner after each use; the powder is hygroscopic and will pick up moisture from humid air.
• Keep bags away from strong odours. Sorbitol does not volatilise, but the kraft paper and PE liner will carry odours into the product in a shared store.
• At low temperature the powder may appear slightly compacted on arrival. Break up with normal handling; this is a packing and transport effect, not caking in the material.
• Not classified as dangerous goods. Store separately from oxidising agents and strong acids.
• Spillage: sweep up dry, avoid generating dust, and rinse the area. Sorbitol dust is not hazardous but is slippery on smooth floors.