Through thick and thin
Texturising is no longer just a question of improving the sensorial qualities of foods, their ease of manufacture or shelf-life. These factors remain high on the manufacturing agenda, and rightly so, because they are drivers of profitability and consumer taste appeal.
However, over the last decade, innovation in the texturising arena has moved to new levels of sophistication in response to market trends and technological developments.
According to Fortune, sales of foods with added health benefits have now reached $25bn annually and consumer health awareness will continue to be the food business's main growth area for the foreseeable future. Time-pressed consumers want foods that offer 'guilt-free convenience' and, importantly, they are increasingly concerned to make food choices that make both nutritional and ethical sense.
Greater education and transparency about food labelling is, therefore, becoming a key requirement. Manufacturers are seeking to reassure consumers about the safety, natural sources and nutritional benefits of the ingredients listed on product labels.
And texturising ingredients, which may include starches, proteins, emulsifiers (lecithins), hydrocolloids, celluloses and cultures are not immune from this interest.
The importance of a diet rich in dietary fibre in terms of intestinal health and reduced risk of digestive disorders has been demonstrated by countless scientific studies. Yet a big gap remains between the recommended amount of dietary fibre sources and actual daily consumption in the typical Western diet.
Starch: a case for resistance
The main sources of resistant starch in the Western diet are cereal products, potatoes and vegetables such as beans, peas, or lentils. They all contain resistant starch, which moves, undigested, through the small intestine to the large intestine, where it is broken down more slowly by fermentation.
Resistant starch not only favours a normal colon metabolism, it also helps to reduce the body's glycaemic load, preventing blood sugar levels from peaking then falling away sharply, which in turn can lead to excessive insulin production. With resistant starch, new products can be formulated with a reduced release of sugar into the bloodstream.
Tapioca is a fibrous root starch derived from cassava, which is grown extensively in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa, where it is used to make flour and various beverages. Cargill's C*ActiStar is derived from tapioca starch via a mild enzymatic and retrogradation process.
New resistant starch products such as this have opened the way to a wealth of new foods that combine manufacturing and consumer convenience with high levels of slowly digestible fibre or 'good' carbohydrate.
Soy: multi-talented
Soy proteins first began to attract attention for their nutritional properties more than five years ago, but sales took off in 2002 after a breakthrough in taste allowed manufacturers to create more consumer-friendly soy-based foods.
Prolisse, a Cargill-patented soy isolate, represented the first technological breakthrough in flour production for some 30 years. Previously, soy isolates had given foods a strong 'beany' taste. Prolisse successfully combined a concentrated level of soy with a bland flavour.
This enabled food manufacturers to incorporate sufficient levels of soy into their products to make them functional - without compromising flavour.
Soy's proven nutritional and health benefits include lowering cholesterol and aiding water retention and it also has emulsification and gelling properties, which help to make it a highly flexible and versatile ingredient for a wide range of food manufacturing applications.
Soy proteins have made an impact in many areas of food processing, including dairy, bakery and snacks.
They have also emerged as important ingredients in meat replacement - a sector of increasing significance to manufacturers trying to meet vegetarian or ethnic dietary needs.
Texture, which plays a vital role here, was until recently often regarded as the disappointing element in meat analogue dishes.
ProSanté, introduced to the market towards the end of 2006, opened the door to soy-based meat alternatives with the bite and texture profile of whole-muscle meat.
Prolisse soy isolate has also been prominent in moving dairy products to a functional platform, replacing or complementing milk proteins and dairy fats in numerous ice creams, yoghurts, fresh or frozen creamy desserts. This trend is enabling a new generation of healthier soy-based desserts to be introduced.
Emulsifying the low fat, natural way
Vegetable lecithins are playing a leading role in the low fat revolution, providing a better stabilisation of low fat emulsions than previously existed. In the human body, lecithin is involved in fat emulsification in the intestine and is required for an optimal fat absorption.
It is a good natural source of choline, which plays an essential role in supporting the nervous system, the liver and other metabolic functions.
In bakery applications, lecithins can help extend product shelf-life and stabilise doughs. They increase shortening effects, accelerate the distribution of moisture and help to reduce overall fat levels.
The major area for innovation for lecithins is the increasing diversity of raw materials that can be used with them, in powder or fluid form, to suit various manufacturing requirements.
Wheat flour, calcium sulfate, lactose and palm oil provide various technical benefits to manufacturers, while enzymes and other natural hyrocolloids such as xanthan gum, carrageenan, galactomannans and alginates can each contribute special functionalities and interesting synergistic effects when they are employed as lecithin carriers or in blends.
However, these more complex applications require highly specialised advice and advanced process-testing facilities to ensure a satisfactory solution from both a health and ease of manufacturing perspective.
Pectin Perspective
Hydrocolloids provide stabilisation, gelation, flow control and crystallisation control. Pectin, which today is predominantly made from citrus fruit peel, has always been considered among the most widely accepted of the major hydrocolloids.
The recent development of quality low-methoxyl amidated pectins has led to improvements in gel strength, particularly important for producing low- and no-sugar fruit spreads.
Another major trend in this market is the increasing use by manufacturers of pectins developed with the dual purpose of creating texture and bringing a significant amount of viscous dietary fibre in balanced meal replacement products such as energy bars and energy drinks.
The acid dairy drinks market is among the most dynamic market sectors for pectin. Asia accounts for around 50-60% of the global acid dairy drinks market but acid dairy drinks have become a worldwide growth phenomenon that looks set to continue as consumers seek out foods with proven probiotic qualities.
Cargill's Unipectine AYD series has been specially designed for stabilising acid dairy drinks. In order to produce a smooth and stable acid dairy drink, suitable for a wide range of textures and applications, it is essential to use a dispersing agent (a high-methoxyl pectin) to prevent the dairy protein particles from agglomerating.
Cargill has developed a high-speed centrifugation test designed to evaluate the action of pectin in an acid dairy drink.
With the market trend towards lower fat and high fruit-based versions of acid dairy drinks, Cargill has also introduced a rheological control method designed to measure calcium sensitivity. This helps to increase the stability efficiency and shelf-life of acid dairy drinks - important considerations for manufacturers and consumers alike.
Cultural differences
Low fat and probiotic dairy applications demand new dairy culture blends and reformulations to meet constantly evolving consumer tastes and health preferences.
In general, the main trends in the global dairy market have included a growing demand for products with digestive health properties, an overall decrease in fat levels, and a greater variety of textures, flavours and aromas to suit differing tastes and applications.
In keeping with this trend, one of Cargill's most recent innovations - Geotrichum fragrans 3 - is a new aromatic cheese culture capable of generating subtle and sweet fresh fruit notes in all types of rind and mould ripened cheeses.
Florian Bayerlein is Cargill Texturizing Solutions' global marketing director.
