The 4 Magic Uses of Edible Gums in Food

Abstract: Edible gums in food mainly play the roles of stabilizers, thickeners, emulsifiers, dispersants, gelling agents, suspending agents, etc. They are used in a wide range of applications, not only in the food processing industry but also in other industries.

In other industries, such as the cosmetics industry, edible gums can be used in cosmetics to thicken, disperse, suspend, stabilize, etc. In the chemical industry, edible gums can be used as coating film, adhesive, etc.

Edible gums are widely used in our daily life, such as ham, jelly, cakes, yogurt, drinks, etc. If you pay attention to the ingredient list on the product packaging, many products have added edible gums. Edible gums are not only widely used in the food industry, but also in other industries, such as in the chemical industry as a coating and adhesive; in agriculture as leaf fertilizer, slow-release fertilizer, and so on.

Do you know the use of edible gums in food industry?

Food gums in food are mainly used as stabilizers, thickeners, emulsifiers, dispersants, gelling agents, and suspending agents.

However, the food industry includes so many types of foodstuff, so we will only analyze the use of edible gums in meat products, beverages, confectionery, and industrial applications.

1.The use of edible gums in meat products

Adding edible gums to meat products can improve the edible quality of meat products, such as color, flavor, texture, water retention, and other functional characteristics.

For example, adding carrageenan to ham sausage can improve the texture and slicability of the product, enhance the gelatinous nature of meat protein, improve water retention, reduce oiliness, and other advantages.

Adding xanthan gum can significantly improve the tenderness, color, and flavor of square ham, round ham, luncheon meat, red sausage, and other meat products, as well as improve the water-holding capacity of meat products, thus increasing the production rate.

2. The use of edible gums in beverages

Agar and xanthan gum in edible gums are often used in beverages as thickening and suspension stabilizers.

Adding a small amount of agar and xanthan gum, the beverage can reach the required viscosity and suspension force at low concentration, and it is relatively less affected by temperature and pH, and can maintain the relative stability of viscosity and suspension force at room temperature to keep the taste and appearance of beverage food.

If a small amount of pectin, gelatin, and sodium alginate is added to yogurt, it can have an effect on the texture and sensory characteristics of yogurt.

3.The use of edible gums in candy

Adding carrageenan to candy can make the candy smooth, more elastic, less sticky, more stable, and with strong fruit flavor, moderate sweetness, and good transparency.

And if you want to make the candy not easy to deform, just add gelatin. Gelatin can control the sugar crystals to become smaller, and prevent the relative separation of oil and water in the syrup, so that the molecules are attracted to each other and intertwined to form a mesh structure, sugar, and other substances completely with the gelatin molecules into a community gel, it can withstand a large load without deformation.

4. The uses of edible gums in industrial applications

After analyzing the use of edible gums in food, let's analyze the uses of edible gums in industrial applications.

Edible gums are also used in a wide range of industrial applications. Below we have selected some of the industries for analysis.

4.1 In the chemical industry, edible gums can be used for coating and adhesives. For example, adding edible gums in toothpaste can play a more obvious bonding, fugitive function, so to achieve the replacement of good uniformity, moisturizing, solid fragrance, washable and high temperature resistance and other effects.
4.2 In agriculture, edible gums can be used as leaf fertilizer and slow-release fertilizer.
4.3 In cosmetic industry, edible gums can play the role of thickening, dispersing, suspending and stabilizing in cosmetics. It facilitates the performance of thickening, foaming, stabilization, emulsification, dispersion, adhesion, film formation and water retention of cosmetics.
4.4 In the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, edible gums can be used as thickeners, stabilizers, and base agents for pharmaceutical pastes and ointments, and also used as eye drops, soft and hard capsules, coating agents and new preparations with drops.