2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14
Food additives (stabilizers) are widely used in the dairy, confectionery, meat processing, and baking industries. Thanks to their application, products acquire the desired shape, texture and consistency. Recently, carrageenan has been widely used as a stabilizer. What is it? In this article, we will try to deal with this issue.
Carrageenan is obtained from the processing of red seaweeds of the Rhodophyceae family. These algae grow almost throughout the entire water area of the Earth. Red algae are heat-loving plants, so they can usually be seen on the coasts of Indonesia, France, Chile, the USA and Canada.
Carrageenan stabilizer - natural gelling agent, thickener. This food additive is widely used in the manufacture of dairy, confectionery, sausages and fish products. The production of ice cream cannot do without carrageenan, because it is thanks to its use that the creamy consistency of the final product is achieved.product.
Carrageenan: general information
Carrageenan was discovered at the end of the 19th century, but until now this substance is of both research and practical interest to many scientists around the world. The first enterprises for the industrial processing of carrageenan appeared in the United States of America in the mid-1930s. Today, more than 3 thousand types of carrageenan are known, and this is not yet the final figure. Every year, researchers discover new types of carrageenan. From now on, you know when carrageenan was discovered, what it is, and in what industries it is used.
The time of collection, the biological phase of growth, as well as the depth and place of growth of red algae affect the physico-chemical properties of carrageenan. Due to the technological processing of algae, several fractions of carrageenans are obtained, which differ from each other in chemical composition, as well as in other quality indicators. Currently, there are three classes of carrageenans, differing in the degree of sulfation: kappa-, iota- and lambda-carrageenans.
Kappa Carrageenan: what is it?
This class of carrageenans is highly soluble in hot water. After dissolution and subsequent cooling, they form a gel with high jelly strength. Kappa class gels react quite well with milk proteins. In the production of meat products, it is kappa-carrageenan that is used as a food additive. The use of this substance is due to the ability to increase the viscosity of liquids and act asnot only a thickener, but also an emulsifier.
Types of carrageenans
According to the degree of purification, carrageenans can be classified into purified and semi-refined. The former are obtained by boiling algae in an alkaline solution. After that, the crystals of carrageenans are filtered, concentrated and removed from the solution. This method is rather laborious and expensive. Most often, semi-purified carrageenans are used in industry. This type is obtained by boiling algae in a solution of potassium hydroxide. Potassium prevents the hydrolysis of carrageenan in solution, but allows carbohydrates and algae proteins to dissolve. After these manipulations, the algae are removed from the solution, washed and dried.
Iota- and lambda-carrageenan: what is it?
Iota-carrageenan forms a less strong gel compared to kappa-gel. It should be noted that such gels are more elastic, they are able to restore their original structure even after mechanical impact. In this regard, iota-carrageenan is usually used as a suspension stabilizer. In addition, the above jellies are quite stable under successive freeze/thaw cycles.
Lambda-carrageenan does not form gels, since it contains a huge amount of sulfo groups, however, such solutions have a high viscosity coefficient. Therefore, this fraction is ideal for the formation of emulsions, foams and suspensions.
Carrageenan Supplement Benefits
There is information that the food stabilizer carrageenan is safe for our he alth, in addition, it has a number of unique beneficial properties. Many experts are of the opinion that the main benefit of using this substance is the purification of the human body from toxic impurities and chemical biocompounds, including heavy metals. In addition, it has been proven that carrageenans are not allergens, they exhibit antiviral, anticoagulant, antibacterial and antitoxic effects.
Carrageenan: harm
American scientists have proven that degraded carrageenan can provoke the development of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as cancer. Why is carrageenan dangerous? The harm of this additive may be due to the fact that its biologically active substances provoke the development of inflammatory reactions in the body. Carrageenan during hydrolysis in the stomach releases toxic substances that are the basis of more than a hundred diseases. Among them are gastritis, enteritis, colitis, arthritis, atherosclerosis, etc. Degraded carrageenan is harmful to our he alth, so it is usually not included in food.
Recently, WHO representatives have strongly discouraged the use of the additive in products intended for the nutrition of children and pregnant women. The latest experimental studies of American scientists, which were conducted on laboratory animals, showed that polyginan (part of the carrageenan molecule) can cause ulcers and cancer.alimentary canal. Based on the data obtained, the specified food stabilizer did not fall into the category of prohibited dietary supplements, but it can still serve as the cause of the development of many pathologies, therefore, products containing carrageenan (food additive E-407 and E-407a) should be used with extreme caution. Despite the proven toxicity, the E-407 stabilizer is allowed to be used on the territory of most states, including the Russian Federation. However, the choice is yours, friends.
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