Xylanases from microbial origin induce syrup formation in dough

Syrup formation in refrigerated doughs is a problem since it reduces the doughs’ shelf life. Microbial exogenous xylanases associated with wheat kernels were found to play a role in this syruping phenomenon. Using xylanase-producing microorganisms isolated from wheat kernels, we investigated their potency to induce syruping in dough. Growth of the fungal xylanase producer Fusarium sp. (102 colony forming units (CFU)/g dough) and the bacterial xylanase producer Paenibacillus sp. (104 CFU/g dough) in synthetic media and their respective addition to wheat dough could not bring about a significant amount of syruping. However, when these species were grown on moist wheat kernels and an extract of these kernels containing both the organisms and its xylanases was made and added to dough, intensive syruping was noted. This effect was primarily attributed to the xylanases present in the extract. These findings suggest that the involvement of xylanase-producing microorganisms in the syruping phenomenon is situated prior to harvest. Additional quantitative analyses of microbial biomass present on wheat kernels revealed that the fungi in particular could be correlated to higher microbial exogenous xylanase activities on wheat. Our results indicate that the syruping is linked to fungal xylanase production on the wheat kernels in the field.