Starch interaction:

Baked products are based primarily on wheat flour, ingredients that can affect the starches in wheat flour, can affect the quality of the baked product. Many emulsifiers are able to complex with amylose or amylopectine in starch.
Sucrose fatty acid esters react mainly with the amylose molecule to form helical complexes during gelatinization. These helical complexes inhibit starch retrogradation which will result in a baked product with longer freshness. Baked products that rise in the oven, benefit from the rise in starch gelatinization temperature, e.g. a higher sponge cake volume can be reached.