Bleaching and Maturing Agents

Some maturing agents strengthen gluten, while others weaken it. Because the same term—maturing agent—is used to describe additives that have completely opposite functions, it can be confusing. In this text, maturing agents that strengthen gluten, such as potassium bromate and ascorbic acid, will be called maturing agents that strengthen, while those that do not will be called maturing agents that weaken. In either case, only very small amounts (parts per million) of maturing agents are necessary to cause the desired changes.