Instant Agar | 1 Better Option for Your Stirred Yogurt Stabilizers

1. Instant Agar Definition

Instant agar (also called quick soluble agar, and spreadable agar) is a hydrocolloid extracted from red seaweeds that is widely used in the food industry and in certain scientific and industrial applications.

Instant agar is a significant breakthrough over the present commonly used stirred yogurt stabilizers in terms of usage, taste, and sensory status.

More Info About Intant Agar +

2. Commonly Used Stirred Yogurt Stabilizers

Name of Single Hydrocolloid	Advantages	Disadvantages	General Dosage
Agar-Agar	The good thickening effect, no sticky	Poor solubility of common agar, limited by the yogurt production process	0.05-0.2%
Pectin	Fine taste, good stability	Low viscosity, poor thickening effect, the sandy feeling when adding too much	0.1-0.2%
Gelatin	Smooth and delicate surface, strong creaminess	Obvious viscosity decay above 15-20 degrees, allergenic animal source, not suitable for halal and vegetarian people	0.2-0.6%
Modified Starch	High viscosity, good water retention	Not shear resistant, rough texture, lack of gloss and smoothness	0.5-2.0%
Whey Protein	Increase protein content, water retention	High usage, high cost, lack of smoothness	1.0-3.0%

* The present commonly used stirred yogurt stabilizers

3. What are the Purposes of Adding Yogurt Stabilizers?

Question

Why is it necessary to add yogurt stabilizers to raw milk? The main purposes are as follows.

3. 1 To enhance and maintain good characteristics

To enhance and maintain good characteristics of yogurt, such as texture and structure, viscosity and consistency, appearance, and mouthfeel.

3. 2 To limit the production process

The function, mechanism of action, and the number of different yogurt stabilizers added directly affect the texture and taste characteristics of the products and limit the production process.

4. Breakthrough of Instant Agar

Instant agar is a significant breakthrough compared to yogurt stabilizers currently on the market in terms of usage, taste, and sensory status.

4.1 Taste

Sticky texture

Melt in the mouth, refreshing, fine, no drawing.

4.2 State

Fluid state

Stable state, short structure

4.3 Shear Resistance

Not good

Effectively resist mechanical shear, good recovery of late viscosity

4.4 Usage

The amount of commonly used yogurt stabilizer is high

But for instant agar, adding only 0.05-0.15% can obviously improve the quality of the yogurt and ensure the natural taste and flavor of yogurt.

5. Properties of Instant Agar

5.1 Compared with the normal agar

Good solubility, 65℃~85℃, 5~10 minutes to dissolve completely. The normal agar needs 100℃ and about 20 minutes.
Transparency is better.
Not affected by the yogurt production process.
Good interaction with protein, effectively improving the taste and stability of yogurt. Whereas normal agar has an average effect on the improvement of yogurt quality.

5.2 Compared with other yogurt stabilizers

5.2.1 Instant agar has the best thickening effect, and a good thickening effect can be achieved with a lower addition.

*Viscosity measurement: Brookfield viscometer, 63# rotor, 5r/min, at 5℃.

5.2.2 Yogurt stabilizers can effectively prevent the loss of viscosity or hardness of yogurt products caused by an imperfect cold chain.

At about 20℃, the viscosity attenuation of yogurt with instant agar was significantly better than other stabilizers.

*Effect of yogurt stabilizer and temperature on viscosity of stirred yogurt.

*Yogurt stabilizer dosage (%): Instant Agar 0.15%, Pectin 0.2%, Other stabilizers 0.4%

5.2.3 The viscosity of stirred yogurt tends to decrease gradually with the extension of storage time, and the yogurt stabilizer can effectively slow down the decreasing trend of yogurt viscosity and maintain the stability of yogurt.

Instant agar has a good retention effect on the viscosity of stirred yogurt with minimal viscosity changes.

Yogurt stabilizers dosage (%): Instant Agar 0.15%, Pectin 0.2%, Other stabilizers 0.4%

5.2.4 Instant agar can effectively resist mechanical shear and has good viscosity recovery properties, which can effectively improve the tissue state of stirred yogurt.