Application in food industries
The food industries are one of the largest
consumers of starch and starch products. In addition, large
quantities of starch are sold in the form of products sold
in small packages for household cooking. Production of cassava
starch has increased considerably in recent years.
Unmodified starch, modified starch and
glucose are used in the food industry for one or more of the
following purposes:
(a) Directly as cooked starch food, custard
and other forms;
(b) Thickener, using the paste properties
of starch (soups, baby foods, sauces and gravies, etc.);
(c) Filler, contributing to the solid
content of soups, pills and tablets and other pharmaceutical
products, fee cream, etc.;
(d) Binder, to consolidate the mass and
prevent it from drying out during cooking (sausages and processed
meats);
(e) Stabilizer, owing to the high water-holding
capacity of starch (e.g., in fee cream).
Bakery products
Although starch is the major constituent of flours,
the art of bread baking depends to a large extent on the selection
of flour with the proper gluten characteristics. Starch is
used in biscuit making, to increase volume and crispness.
In Malaysia, cassava starch is used in sweetened and unsweetened
biscuits and in cream sandwiches at the rate of 5-10 percent
in order to soften zyestexture, add taste and render the biscuit
nonsticky. The use of dextrose in some kinds of yeast-raised
bread and bakery products has certain advantages as it is
readily available lo the yeast and the resulting fermentation
is quick and complete. It also imparts a golden brown color
to the crust and permits longer conservation.
Confectioneries
In addition to the widespread use of dextrose and
glucose syrup as sweetening agents in confectioneries, starch
and modified starches are also used in the manufacture of
many types of candies such as jellybeans, toffee, hard and
soft gums, boiled sweets (hard candy), fondants and Turkish
delight. In confectioneries, starch is used principally in
the manufacture of gums, pastes and other types of sweets
as an ingredient, in the making of moulds or for dusting sweets
to prevent them from sticking together. Dextrose prevents
crystallization in boiled sweets and reduces hydroscopicity
in the finished product.
Canned fruits, jams and preserves
Recent advances in these industries include the partial
replacement of sucrose by dextrose or sulfur-dioxide-free
glucose syrup. This helps to maintain the desired percentage
of solids in the products without giving excessive sweetness,
thereby emphasizing the natural flavor of the fruit. The tendency
toward crystallization of sugars is also decreased.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
This product is used extensively in many parts of
the world in powder or crystal form as a flavoring agent in
foods such as meats, vegetables, sauces and gravies. Cassava
starch and molasses are the major raw materials used in the
manufacture of MSG in the Far East and Latin American countries.
The starch is usually hydrolyzed into glucose by boiling with
hydrochloric or sulfuric acid solutions in closed converters
under pressure. The glucose is filtered and converted into
glutamic acid by bacterial fermentation. The resulting glutamic
acid is refined, filtered and treated with caustic soda to
produce monosodium glutamate, which is then centrifuged and
dried in drum driers. The finished product is usually at least
99 percent pure.
The production of commercial caramel
Caramel as a coloring agent for food, confectionery
and liquor is extensively made of glucose rather than sucrose
because of its lower cost. If invert sugar, dextrose or glucose
is heated alone, a material is formed that is used for flavoring
purposes; but if heated in the presence of certain catalysts,
the coloration is greatly heightened, and the darker brown
products formed can be used to color many foodstuffs and beverages.
Uniform and controlled heating with uniform
agitation is necessary to carry the caramellization to the
point where all the sugar has been destroyed without liberating
the carbon.
| Application
of tapioca |
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