That's according to ingredients distributor Cornelius, which distributes trehalose (a disaccharide derived from starch) in the UK for Japanese supplier Hayashibara. Cornelius started experimenting with it following a customer inquiry and has been trialling it in creamy mashed potatoes made with cream and butter, whipped cream and other products.
Even very small doses stopped moisture migrating from these products as they thawed, which opened up some exciting opportunities, said Cornelius technical sales rep Sandra Cox.
“There’s nothing worse than defrosting a shepherd’s pie and seeing pools of water floating around in it as you put it in the oven. But it’s also potentially very interesting for potential application in products that you are currently told you can’t freeze.
"The reason you’re told not to freeze them is often because they go watery when they are defrosted. If we could prevent water pooling, these products could be sold frozen or could be subsequently frozen by consumers.”
Trehalose can also be used to similar effect in some multi-component bakery products, where it could reduce moisture migration and help to maximise shelf-life.
Hayashibara developed a proprietary technology using enzyme-based processes to convert wheat and corn starch into trehalose in the 1990s.
It is water soluble, highly stable, tooth-friendly, not especially sweet (45% as sweet as sucrose) and listed on the ingredients declaration as trehalose.