Food Marketing & Technology - India July 2019 | Page 28

Ingredient
microbial or synthetic origin as used as
a functional ingredient of food-stuffs.
In baked goods, hydrocolloids have
been used for retardation of staling
(bakery foods) and for improving
the quality of fresh products. They
help to minimize the negative effects
of freezing and frozen storage.
The most applied biopolymers
included are modified starch, gelatin,
carrageenans, agar-agar, arabic gum,
guar gum, alginates, xanthan gum and
carboxymethyl cellulose.
The reason behind the use of
hydrocolloids is their ability to modify
the rheology of the food system.
This includes two basic properties of
food system namely, viscosity and
texture. Structurally hydrocolloids
are a heterogeneous group of long-
chain polymers of polysaccharides
and protein like molecules and are
characterised by their property of
forming viscous particles or gel-like
structures when dispersed in water.
Presence of a large number of a hydroxyl
group of polysaccharide structures
increases their affinity for binding
water molecules with compounds.
Further, they produce a dispersion,
which is intermediate between a true
solution and a suspension and exhibits
the properties of a colloid. Considering
these two properties, they are termed as
hydrophilic colloids or hydrocolloids.
The modification of texture or the
viscosity of the food system helps to
modify its sensory properties, and
hence, hydrocolloids are used as
important food additives to perform
specific purposes. It is obvious that
several hydrocolloids belong to the
category of permitted food additives in
many countries throughout the world.
In baking Industries hydrocolloids
(gums) are increasingly have their
importance as product improving
components. Usually, the addition
of hydrocolloids to bakery products
improves their stability and quality
criteria of increased water absorption,
specific product volume, shapes,
stability and the viscoelastic properties
of bakery ingredients. For example,
they induce structural changes in
the main components of wheat flour
systems so that increases the storage
of the product. Hydrocolloids are
used either alone or in a combination,
to achieve specific synergies between
their respective functional properties.
The highly hydrophilic nature of
hydrocolloids also helps to prevent
the growth of ice crystals during
frozen storage of products, and the
migration of water from the substrate
to the coating, which improves
the freeze-thaw stability of the
components. Additives are used in
bakery to facilitate processing, to
compensate for variations in raw
materials, to guarantee the constant
quality, and to preserve freshness
and food properties. They are widely
used in baked goods to enhance
dough handling properties, to increase
the overall quality of the fresh
products and to extend shelf-life of
stored goods.
The reason behind the use of
hydrocolloids is their ability
to modify the rheology
of the food system. This
includes two basic properties
of food system namely,
viscosity and texture
Food Marketing & Technology
28
July 2019
Gums and hydrocolloids are used to
create texture. These are substances
that are added to bakery ingredients
to emulsify and create an interesting
mouthfeel and diversity in texture.
They can be used for shelf life extension
of cakes and bread, for instance, to
control batter consistency, as partial
fat replacers, etc. It is obvious that
these kinds of substances can be used
in the other food industries as well.
Along with the increased interest in
gums and hydrocolloids for texture
modification, there is a growing a
sceptical attitude to use chemicals in
the kitchen. Many people have come
to view hydrocolloids as unnatural
or unhealthy ingredients. However,
it is important to remember that most
gums and hydrocolloids are obtained
from natural sources and have a
marine, plant or microbial origin. They
only have been extracted and purified
from these natural sources. However,
the World Health Organizations
encourages
the
national
and
international authorities to monitor
and to ensure that food additives are
always in compliance with permitted
uses only. National committees should
inspect the food production, food,
marketing, and food businesses, which
carry the primary responsibility of
ensuring the use of food additives is
safe and complies with the legislation.
*Pallavi Jaiswal - Assistant Manager
Quality Control Department
Tropiliite Foods Pvt. Ltd. GwaliorM.P.