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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Risen-Leaven-Mixture-top-view.jpg|right|frame]] ==Origin== French ''levain'' (recorded from 12–13th century) = Provençal ''levam'' < [[Latin]] ''levāmen'' means of raising (recorded only in the sense ‘alleviation, relief, [[comfort]]’), < ''levāre'' (French [[lever]] ) to raise. *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century 13th Century] ==Definitions== *1: a. A substance which is added to dough to produce [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation fermentation]; spec. a [[quantity]] of fermenting dough reserved from a previous batch to be used for this [[purpose]] :b. In wider sense: Any substance that produces fermentation; = ferment; occasionally applied to the ‘ferment’ of zymotic [[diseases]]. 2:a. Chiefly with allusion to certain passages of the [[gospels]] (e.g. Matt. xiii. 33, xvi. 6): An [[agency]] which produces [[profound]] [[change]] by [[progressive]] inward operation. :b. A tempering or [[modifying]] [[element]]; a tinge or admixture (of some [[quality]]. ==Description== A leavening agent (also leavening or '''leaven'''; /ˈlɛvənɪŋ/ or /ˈlɛvən/) is any one of a number of substances used in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dough doughs] and batters that cause a foaming action which lightens and softens the finished product. The leavening [[agent]] incorporates gas bubbles into the dough—this may be air incorporated by [[mechanical]] means, but usually it is carbon dioxide produced by [[biological]] agents, or by [[chemical]] agents reacting with [[moisture]], [[heat]], acidity, or other triggers. When a dough or batter is mixed, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch starch] in the flour mixes with the [[water]] in the dough to form a matrix (often supported further by proteins like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten gluten] or other polysaccharides like pentosans or xanthan gum), then [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch_gelatinization gelatinizes] and "sets"; the holes left by the gas bubbles remain.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaven] [[Category: Chemistry]]

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