Carrageenan in Food: Can Carrageenan Replace Other Hydrocolloids?

Abstract:

Carrageenan in food has its unique properties and can be used as a thickener, gelling agent, suspending agent, activator, stabilizer, etc. in the food industry. It acts as a good coagulant and can replace other common hydrocolloids such as 寒天, gelatin, ペクチン, etc.

1. What is Carrageenan?

カラギーナン is a hydrocolloid extracted from red algae, which plays an important role in the production of jelly, ice cream, pastry, gummy candy, bird's nest porridge and other foods.

Carrageenan is a white or light brown granule or powder, odorless or slightly odorless, due to its unique properties in the food industry, it can be used as a thickener, gelling agent, suspending agent, activator, stabilizer, etc. It acts as a good coagulant and can replace other common hydrocolloids such as agar, gelatin, pectin, etc.

2. Carrageenan in Food: Jellies & Puddings

The jelly made of agar has insufficient Q and is more expensive;

The disadvantage of using gelatin in jelly is that it has low solidification and melting point and requires low temperature refrigeration for preparation and storage;

The disadvantage of using pectin is that it requires the addition of highly soluble sugar and the adjustment of the appropriate pH to solidify.

Carrageenan in Jellies

Compared with other hydrocolloids, carrageenan does not have these disadvantages, and jellies made from carrageenan are elastic and not water-releasing, thus making it a common gelation agent for jellies.

3. Carrageenan in Food: Jelly Gummy Candies

In China, carrageenan is used to make transparent fruit gummy candy for a long time. It has a strong fruit flavor, moderate sweetness, crisp and non-sticky, and better transparency than agar gummy candy, and lower price than agar.

4. Carrageenan in Food: Ice Cream | Frozen Treats

In the production of ice cream and sorbet, carrageenan can make the fat and other solid components evenly distributed, prevent the separation of milk components, prevent the ice crystals from increasing in size during manufacturing and storage, it can also make the ice cream and sorbet finely organized, smooth and delicious.

In ice cream production, carrageenan has unique gelling properties due to its interaction with cations in milk, which can increase the molding and melting resistance of ice cream, improve the stability of ice cream when the temperature fluctuates, and make it less likely to melt when placed.