Thickener is a substance that can make food increase viscosity and make food distribution uniform, there are many kinds of thickeners, which are widely used in food processing, this article mainly introduces several kinds of thickeners that are commonly used in soft drink food and their applications.

Instant agar in the application of beverage features

① has a thickening and stabilizing effect, compared with other viscosity-enhancing colloids, non-sticky taste, only a small amount of additive will be able to provide the product with a full and refreshing taste.

② superior flavor release, will not mask the release of the flavor of the food itself.

③ It has thixotropic viscosity, which gives the liquid beverage a thick texture, but with little residual aftertaste, good mouthfeel, and a very smooth mouthfeel.

④ Has a certain gel, low concentration in solution can form a fluid three-dimensional network structure, has a good suspension, so that some difficult to dissolve ingredients such as proteins, fibers, powder ingredients, etc. to produce a better suspension effect. And improve the stability of the beverage in the shelf life, to prevent the precipitation of water layer phenomenon.

Xanthan Gum

Xanthan gum has the highest viscosity of natural gum at low concentration (below 0.5%) and can be dissolved in cold water. The aqueous solution has a typical pseudoplastic flow, with a gradual decrease in viscosity when subjected to shear and an immediate recovery when the shear force is reduced.

As a food thickener, xanthan gum has good thickening and pseudoplasticity, good dispersion, emulsification and stabilization and suspension ability, good stability in pasteurization, the important point is that xanthan gum and other thickeners and emulsifiers have good compatibility.

Xanthan gum in soft drinks is widely used is almond milk, because almond milk in the production and storage will often be precipitation and delamination phenomenon, the actual production of adding a certain amount of xanthan gum will avoid precipitation and delamination.

Because xanthan gum has a very good melting properties, and secondly, compared with other thickening agents, the use of small, so add xanthan gum juice compared to other gums taste good, juice flavor release more fully.

Xanthan gum can also be used in solid powdered beverages, the standard dosage is 1%.

Adding xanthan gum in carbonated beverages has the effect of stabilizing gas.

Carrageenan

Carrageenan is white or light yellow powder, tasteless and odorless, completely soluble in hot water above 60℃, insoluble in organic solvents. It has the best stability at pH9, can be heated at high temperature above pH6, and acid hydrolysis will occur when heated below pH3.5. Aqueous solution in the presence of potassium, calcium ions can generate reversible gel.

Carrageenan as a thickener, suspending agent, gel, emulsifier and stabilizer, the general dosage of 0.03% -0.5%. For example, the dosage in cocoa milk is 0.025%-0.035%, buttermilk gel is 0.2%-0.3%, yogurt is 0.02%-0.03%, and heated and sterilized beverages and buttermilk gel are selected K type. Meanwhile, carrageenan and acacia gum have synergistic effect to improve its curd strength and viscosity.

Pectin

Pectin is brown or off-white particles or powder, sticky and smooth taste, dissolved in 20 times of water, into a milky white viscous liquid, good heat resistance, insoluble in organic solvents.

Pectin has flavor, very stable in acidic medium, all kinds of acidic materials can be used pectin as a thickener. Pectin with methoxyl content higher than 7% is called high methoxyl pectin, and lower than 7% is called low methoxyl pectin, and the high or low methoxyl content affects the gelation ability of pectin.

Pectin is used in juice drinks or solid beverages to make the drinks more viscous or to stabilize the suspension of essential oils and fruit particles. The dosage is 0.05%-0.1% in juice drinks and 0.1%-0.2% in fruit juice concentrates. When used with syrup wetting or with more than 3 times the amount of sugar mixed, more pectin soluble in water.

In the production of milk beverages, adding high-methoxy pectin can be very good to improve the product flavor and product texture, cow’s milk drinks will occur stratification phenomenon, especially after sterilization of cow’s milk is more prone to precipitation and stratification, the use of pectin can play a role in inhibiting the effect of stratification.

Gelatin

Gelatin is a colorless or light yellow transparent, brittle, almost odorless, tasteless flake or coarse powder. It expands in 5-10 times the amount of cold water, is soluble in hot water, glycerin and acetic acid, and is insoluble in ether, ethanol and other organic solvents. When dissolved in hot water it becomes a very viscous sol, below 5% concentration it does not gel, 10%-15% solution can form a gel.

Gelatinization temperature and its concentration and coexistence of salt type, concentration and solution pH. 30 ℃ liquefaction, 20 ℃ -25 ℃ gel. Aqueous solutions of gelatin change when boiled for long periods of time and can also become gels when cooled. Reheating is changed to peptone. Gelatin is mainly composed of more than 83% protein, less than 15% water and less than 2% inorganic ash.

Gelatin can be used as a thickener and stabilizer for beverages, as well as a clarifier for fruit juice and wine.

Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose

CMC is a cellulose derivative with glucose polymerization degree of 200-500, etherification degree of 0.6-0.7, white or off-white powder or fibrous material, odorless, hygroscopic. The degree of replacement of carboxyl group (etherification degree) determines its properties.

It is soluble in alkaline solution when the etherization degree is above 0.3. The viscosity of aqueous solution is determined by pH and degree of polymerization, and it does not precipitate in acidity when the degree of etherification is 0.5-0.8. CMC is easily soluble in water, and becomes a transparent viscous solution in water, and its viscosity varies with the concentration and temperature of the solution. it is stable at temperatures of less than 60℃, and the viscosity will be reduced by heating for a long time at temperatures of more than 80℃.

Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is widely used in the soft drink industry because it is easy to dissolve in water to form a high viscosity solution, which is not stable enough under acidic conditions, and must be made into acid-resistant CMC-Na, which is generally used in acidic beverages.

The common practice of common cow’s milk drinks on the market is to add acid-resistant CMC-Na in cow’s milk, and then in the addition of acid, so as to prevent casein precipitation in cow’s milk, and prolong the preservation period of food.

Fruit juice drinks, especially those with fruit particles, are prone to precipitation, and the addition of CMC-Na can prevent precipitation.

Propylene Glycol Alginate

PGA is a light yellow slightly aromatic powder, easily soluble in water, the general dosage is 1%, the viscosity is large when the concentration is high, and the viscosity decreases when the temperature rises. In the range of pH3-4, the viscosity increases with the decrease of pH. It is most stable near pH3, and hydrolyzed above pH7, the viscosity decreases significantly.

PGA is stable at about 60°C, and the viscosity decreases when the temperature is further increased. However, the changes in heating only show a decrease in the degree of polymerization, no hydrolysis of ester bonds, even at 90 ℃, pH 3.1 acidic solution can also be relatively stable.

PGA has a propylene glycol base, lipophilic, so emulsification is strong, at the same time due to the low degree of esterification, its nature is similar to sodium alginate, in the production of beverages mainly for emulsion stabilizers, in the continuous phase to produce viscosity, to improve the stability of the emulsion.

In addition, when used alone or in combination with other thickeners as a thickener for acidic beverages, it can obtain good rheological properties, so that the solid components are well suspended in the juice, and improve the stability of the pulp-type beverages.

It can also be used as stabilizer of fruit juice, sour milk drink and emulsification stabilizer of emulsified flavor, etc. The general dosage of PGA is 0.1%-0.5%, and the daily intake (ADI) stipulated by FAO/WHO Specialized Committee on Food Additives (SCCFA) is 25mg/kg of body weight, and the stipulated standard of use is less than 1%.