Applications of natural ingredients in savoury food products - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 289

Table 13.6 Hydrocolloids

Name Origin Applications/comments

Sodium alginate
E401

Seaweed Stabiliser, thickener, forms gels

with calcium ions

Agar agar E406 Seaweed Stabiliser, thickener, gels

Carrageenan E407 Seaweed Emulsifi er, thickener, gels

Locust bean gum
(carob) E410

Seeds of locust or carob tree Emulsifi er, stabiliser, gels

Guar gum E412 Seed from Cyamopsis

tetragonolobus plant

Thickener, stabiliser, suspending
agent

Gum Arabic E414 Acacia tree Emulsifi er, stabiliser, glazing agent

Xanthan gum E415 Microbial fermentation of

carbohydrate (e.g. molasses)

Thickener, stabiliser, suspending
agent

Pectin E440 Fruits (e.g. orange, apple) Emulsifi er, gels

product. A beef bouillon, for example, is based on extracts and stocks derived from
the boiling of beef meat and bones. The extracts are available either in a liquid or
paste form (usually stabilised by the addition of salt). They can also be in the dried
form for use in dry powder blends. A similar approach is taken for other meat or fi sh
types. For vegetable products, extracts or purees of most vegetables are available or
for a dry powder version there are the vegetable powders described in Table 13.2.

13.2.12 Natural fl avours
The main sub-categories of fl avourings used in savoury food products are:
(a) compounded top note fl avours with long fl avours that provide body such as
thermally processed fl avours and extracts; and (b) base fl avours such as spices,
yeast extracts, hydrolysed vegetable proteins and soya sauce.
Imagine a food product that has been cooked, for example, by boiling for an
excessive time; its fl avour would be fairly dull because many of the volatile
components would have been driven off. These volatile components are mostly
aromas that hit the nose quickest and then dissipate leaving the other fl avours
(mid or lower notes) in the food to take over. To compensate for this loss, top
notes are added back into savoury food products by a number of means - oleoresins
and essential oils of herbs and spices, vegetables or natural fl avour chemicals.
Long fl avour is a term used to describe a compounded fl avour that may be
thought of as a concentrated seasoning having a combination of salt, sugars, acids,
yeasts, natural meaty or vegetable fl avours plus the top note fl avours.
One particular controversial area of fl avourings has been smoke fl avours, which
although derived from 'natural' processes, have been given their own fl avouring
status in the EU and are generally considered as not natural. There are, however,
natural alternatives in the form of smoked spices such as paprika and pepper and more
recently naturally smoked salt and dextrose have been introduced into the marketplace.

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿