The Role of Natural Food Thickening Agents in Food Processing

Abstract

Natural food thickening agents are now an indispensable food additive in the food processing industry, and their role should not be taken lightly.

Natural food thickening agents are widely used in food processing, and food with thickening agents can be seen everywhere. However, in recent years, some people have been creating rumors and discrediting other food additives such as thickening agents and stabilizers for their personal interests, making many consumers anxious.

So today Gino wrote this article, to let us understand the role of thickeners in food processing, and to recognize the uniqueness of thickeners in food processing.

What are Food Thickening Agents

Food thickening agents, also known as food thickeners, gelling agents, are a kind of rheological additives, all food thickeners are polymeric hydrocolloid substances, most of which are extracted or processed from natural plants and animals.

Food thickeners are widely used in food processing, their main role is to improve the viscosity of food or the formation of gel, maintain the relative stability of the system of hydrophilic substances, so as to change the physical properties of food, taste, and both emulsification, stabilization or suspension of the role of the substance.

1. Thickening Effect

Thickener in food is mainly to give the food required rheological properties: change the texture and appearance of food, liquid, pulpy food to form a specific form; and make it stable, uniform, improve the quality of food, so that food has a sticky and smooth taste.

2. Stabilizing Effect

Adding food thickeners to food can make the food texture stable, not easy to change, not easy to change the quality of such as.

①It can effectively prevent sugar crystallization in candy;

②Inhibiting the growth of ice crystals in ice cream;

③It can stabilize the foam in beer and sparkling wine;

④It has the effects of emulsification stabilization in beverages, condiments and emulsified flavors.

3. Gelling Effect

Food thickener is a gelling agent and excipient for gummy candies, jellies, jams and artificial nutritional foods.

As the thickening agents for edible gels, they each have their own strengths and are irreplaceable to each other.

Agar is currently the better gelling agent, its gel is firm and hard, but less elastic;

Sodium alginate has low gelling conditions and its thermal irreversibility is particularly suitable for artificial nutritional foods;

Gelatin gel is tough and elastic and can withstand certain pressure;

Pectin can release a better flavor when gelling, suitable for fruit-flavored food.

4. Film-forming Effect

Natural food thickeners can form a very light and moist film on the surface of the food, which can prevent the quality of frozen food, solid powder food surface moisture absorption caused by loss.

Thickeners used for film are alcohol-soluble proteins, gelatin, agar, alginate, etc. Currently, edible packaging film is one of the directions of the development of thickeners.

5. Water Holding Effect

Water holding effect means that the food thickener has a strong hydrophilic effect, can absorb dozens or even hundreds of times its own mass of water, and has a water holding capacity. This property can improve the water absorption of dough, so that the quality of the product increases.

6. Odor Correction

It has a masking effect on bad odor. The effect of cyclodextrin is better, which can eliminate the odor in food. For example, adding 2-5% in soy milk can significantly reduce the smell of beans.

7. Other Effects

In addition to the above effects, thickeners can also be used as clarifying agents for fruit juice, wine and certain condiments, as well as quality improvers for baked goods; they can also be used as foaming agents and de-filming agents in food processing.

In short, natural food thickening agents in food processing are playing an increasingly active and important role.

It can be said that without food thickeners, the taste and texture of many foods will be greatly reduced.

So for food thickeners and other food additives, we should still look at it rationally.