Predicting the functionality of carrageenans
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They are everywhere…nearly
Carrageenans are one of the major gelling, thickening and stabilizing agent in foods. They are obtained by extraction from certain species of red seaweeds and the composition differs from batch to batch.
Even small variations can have an enormous influence on their functional properties. For instance carrageenans containing irregularities (around 3%) give much better gelling properties in dessert applications. Therefore, both ingredient suppliers and food industries set great store by the qualitative and quantitative analysis of carrageenan batches.
At NIZO, even carrageenans can be improved
By choosing the right composition, product quality can be improved while costs are reduced. Key is the characterization of the molecular structure, allowing interpretation of the texturing properties. With NMR spectroscopy, NIZO food research offers a fast and accurate method to determine carrageenan quality for both ingredient suppliers and food industries.