Food additives usher in 'all-rounders': African arrowroot extract

Recently, the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center released a request for opinions on extracts of new varieties of food spice from African arrowroot, and plans to use it as a spice for food in various foods. For the food and flavor industry, the application of African arrowroot extract is a big plus, because it is not only "fragrant" but also "sweet", and it is one of the ideal flavor enhancers with high performance.

Advancement of sweetness

Squeezed by the dual factors of health and application cost, sucrose has begun to decline in the food industry, replaced by an iterative sweetener. Artificial sweeteners such as low-calorie, low-cost sucralose and aspartame quickly occupy the "bridgehead" of the sweetness market. Even if they are questioned about their health effects, their market consumption continues to rise. However, as the concept of health awareness continues to penetrate, more and more consumers are turning their attention to safer and more reliable natural ingredients. Functional sweeteners such as stevia and mogroside are becoming more popular, paying for health. The concept also urges producers to lean towards natural sweeteners.

Somatan is a natural sweet protein extracted from the arils of mature African arrowroot fruits. Its sweetness is 2000~2500 times that of sucrose. Its sweetness is refreshing, no peculiar smell, no metallic taste, and the sweetness is continuous For a long time, it is easy to produce synergistic effect with other sweeteners. And its sweetness threshold is very low, even at very low concentrations, it can be perceived by taste buds. It is worth mentioning that thaumatin is a natural protein ingredient obtained by water extraction, which can be broken down into nutritive Amino Acids in the body, and its safety is guaranteed. The World Health Organization Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives has identified it as Safe food additives, and do not need to set the ADI value, natural, safe, healthy, efficient and other attributes make it quite promising.

Dimensionality reduction

With the popularity of 0-sugar, 0-sucrose, low-sugar and sugar substitute foods, seeking ideal sugar substitutes has become one of the keys to the implementation of food sugar reduction strategies. The purpose of sugar reduction is obviously for health, that is, to reduce calorie intake, but calories are also divided into good and bad. Carbohydrates, fats, and protein are all sources of calories. The sugars that we usually avoid are actually monosaccharides and disaccharides in carbohydrates, but dietary fiber and other substances are healthy ingredients that we advocate, so we can’t just How much calories to measure the pros and cons of the material. Although thaumatin is also a substance with calories, it is metabolized into nutrients such as amino acids. The intake of such caloric substances will not cause negative effects, but is beneficial to health. Therefore, we believe that thaumatin is also included. Natural nutritive sweeteners, and its indirect calorie supply characteristics are more advantageous than natural sweeteners such as xylitol and sorbitol.

Even if compared with the current high-profile stevia, its function is not inferior at all, especially the flavor enhancement effect is unmatched by other sweeteners. Studies have pointed out that low-concentration thaumatin has a significant effect on flavor enhancement. In meat products, thaumatin can improve the aroma of meat, and is especially suitable for improving and enhancing the flavor of low-temperature meat products; in chewing gum, it can enhance the persistence of sweetness and fragrance, and promote the release of sweetness of fillers; In solid beverages, it can better stimulate the flavor output of raw materials. Experiments indicate that adding stevia to cold brew coffee can significantly enhance the release of coffee aroma, bitterness and roast aroma, making it closer to hot coffee.

If thaumatin is an advanced sweetener, then the African arrowroot extract as a spice is an advanced thaumatin. African arrowroot extract is obtained from the arils of mature African arrowroot fruits by water extraction. It is made up of a series of related thaumatin, which is further stabilized by edible salt and loaded with maltodextrin. Food additives. Under the general trend that the pursuit of sweetness is fading, African arrowroot extract can not only cater to the demand for low sugar, but its flavor enhancement effect will further reduce the addition of other sweeteners. The application advantage of multiple benefits is against other competing products. It is really a dimensionality reduction blow.

The scope of application is expanding day by day

Mankind has a long history of using somatin. West Africa has used arrowroot fruit as a sweetener for overfermented sour wine and bread since ancient times. It was not until Van Der wel singled out the sweet protein in 1972. Only then really opened the modern application of thaumatin. Thaumatin is not a single ingredient, but a mixture of multiple sweet proteins and a small amount of other plant ingredients. There are two main sweet substances: Thaumatin I is a compound of 207 amino acids combined in a linear chain, with a molecular weight of 22209 ; Somatin II is a combination of 198 amino acids, with a molecular weight of 22293. In March 2021, the National Health Commission issued "GB 1886.321-2021 Food Safety National Standard Food Additive Somatin" detailed its quality standards Regulations.

Japan is one of the earlier regions that allowed the application of somatin at the regulatory level. It was approved as a food additive as early as 1979. Subsequently, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico and other regions successively approved the use of thaumatin as a sweetener in food. In 2014, my country's "National Food Safety Standard Food Additives Use Standards" included thaumatin, which can be used in frozen beverages, protein beverages, pastries and other categories. In recent years, the role of thaumatin in flavor enhancement has gradually received attention. In 2018, the European Commission issued (EU) Commission Regulation 2018/677, amended (EC) Regulation No 1333/2008, and approved Thaumatin as a flavor enhancer for sauces and snacks, and used to enhance sauces and snacks. Some umami and salty taste.

The extension of thaumatin to flavor enhancers is also an objective need for development. The flavor of sucrose is unique. At present, there is no substance used in sugar substitutes that can match the flavor of sucrose. Each sweetener has its limitations. In application, it is often necessary to mix and use a variety of sweeteners, or partially replace sucrose. , Otherwise it will reduce the flavor experience of the product. Somatin also has its own limitations. Its sweetness comes slowly and goes slowly, but when it is used in combination with other sweeteners, it can not only cover up the shortcomings of other sweeteners, but also enhance the sweetness and make sweetness. The taste output is closer to that of sucrose. At the same time, its beneficial effect on other flavors can reduce the use of additives, make product formulations more concise, and conform to the general trend of clean labels. In addition, according to the provisions of GB2760, the application range of food flavors is much larger than that of sweeteners, and the amount of flexibility is wider, which is conducive to the overall improvement of product formulations. In short, the identity of spices is more advantageous than sweeteners.