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Food Additives : Its applications & recent trends
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Wednesday, 02 December, 2020, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Dr PA. Raajeswari and S.M. Devatha
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World Health Organisation defines Food Additives are the “Substances, added to food to maintain or improve safety, freshness, taste, texture and appearance.” It is also added to food production, processing, packaging and storage without being a major ingredient. Some food additives have been used for centuries to preserve flesh foods, fruits and vegetables. Some of the best examples are, usage of salt in meats, bacon or dried fish, sugar in marmalade and sulfur dioxide in wine.
Food Additives in Indian markets segmented as Preservatives, Sweetener, Sugar Substitutes, Emulsifier, Anti-Caking Agents, Enzymes, Hydrocolloids, Food Flavors and Enhancers, Food Colourants and Acidulants.
Application of additives
Nutritive value of food
Some additives like vitamins, minerals, amino acids and amino acid derivatives are used to increase the nutritive value of food.
Sensory value of food
Food texture can be stabilised by adding minerals and polysaccharides. Any decrease or defects in the colour, taste, texture and consistency can be corrected or readjusted by additives such as pigments, aroma compounds or flavour enhancers.
Shelf life of food
Additives help to extend the shelf life and protects against the microbial spoilage of food. For example, by using antimicrobial additives and active agents, suppresses and retards the undesired chemical and physical changes in food.
Types, uses and allowance of additives
Food Preservatives
Antioxidants and Antimicrobials are commonly used preservatives. Antimicrobials eliminatethe micro flora by the physical methods. The most important Antioxidants are natural or synthetic are tocopherols, ascorbic acid esters, Gallic acid esters, ascorbic acid esters, butyl hydroxyl anisole, butyl hydroxyl toluene.
1. Benzoic acid is used to preserve sour foods (pH 4 – 4.5 or lower), carbonated beverages, fruit salads, marmalades and paste fillings that occurs in nature as glycoside in cranberry, bilberry, plum and cinnamon trees which acts actively against molds and yeast.
2. Sorbic acid or its salts are effective antifungal agents in baked products, beverages, marmalades, jellies, dried fruits and in margarine that protects against molds, yeast and some bacteria.
3. Propionic acid occurs during propionic acid fermentation. It is nontoxic and 0.1 – 0.2 % of propionic acid is used in the preparation of baked products to prevent the ropiness caused by the action of Bacillus mesentericus.
4. Diethyl pyrocarbonate is a colorless liquid of fruit like or ester odor. These are used in the cold pasteurization of fruit juices, wine and beer at a concentration of 120 – 300 ppm.
5. Ethylene oxide and Propylene oxide are active against all microorganisms, particularly vegetative cells and spores and also against viruses. They can also use as gaseous sterilants against insects and as gaseous sterilant in some dehydrated foods and spices.
Flavour Enhancer
These are substance which enhances the aroma of a food commodity. An enhancer effect is apparent to senses like feeling, volume and freshness.
1. 0.2 – 0.5 per cent of Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG) is the most used flavour enhancer in frozen, dehydrated or canned fish and meat products.
2. 5’ Nucleotides is also similar to MSG which can be added up to 75 – 100 ppm in all foods. Imprint a higher viscosity in liquid foods.
3. Maltol enhances the sweetness of the carbohydrate rich food such as fruit juices, marmalades, fruit jelly. Addition of 5 – 75 ppm maltol decreases the sugar content by about 15 per cent while retaining the sweetening intensity.
Sweeteners
Sweeteners are natural or synthetic compounds which imprint a sweet sensation and possess no or negligible nutritional value in relation to the extent of sweetness.
1. Saccharin is mostly used in the Na or Ca salt. At higher concentration this may slightly bitter after taste.
2. Cyclamate is a widespread sweetener as cyclohexane sulfamic acid.
Monellin, thaumatins, curculin, miraculin, Silvestre extract, stevioside, osladin, phyllodulcin, glycyrrhizin, curculin and talin are some of the most used sweeteners. They may also classify as high, low, non-caloric sweeteners.
Food Colours
Numerous natural colours are available and used to adjust or collect food discolouration or change the colour during processing and storage. Yellow and red colours are used to the most. Food products which are often coloured are confections, beverages, dessert powders, cereals, ice creams and dairy products.
Chelating Agents
Chelating agents have acquired greater importance in food processing. Many natural constituents of food can act as chelating agents e.g., carboxylic acids, polyphosphoric acids, amino acids, peptides, proteins and porphyries.
Emulsifiers, Thickening agents, Gel builders, Stabilisers, Anti caking agents, Bleaching agents, Propellants are some of the food additives.
Trends in food additive
• A recent research showed that carbohydrate food ingredients or oligosaccharides can be used as prebiotics or bio-preservatives which varies depends on its origins and structures, mostly present as oligochitosans or as low molecular mass chitosans.
• Certain novel strains of microorganisms acts as food additives that are produced commercially to meet the high demand as microbial pigments. Traditional methods of microbial isolation, development and extraction are now replaced with novel techniques and strategies through biotechnology; with the advent of fermentation technology and genetic engineering techniques.
• Agro-Food Byproducts as a new source of Natural Food additives. Consumers’ demand for healthier foodstuffs has increased over the last years, and thus the food industry has strived to answer this challenge. Byproducts are generally secondary products derived from primary agro-food production processes and represent an interesting and cheaper source of potentially functional ingredients, such as peptides, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds by promoting a circular economy concept.
• The existing body of work has shown that byproducts and their extracts may be successfully incorporated into foodstuffs, for instance, phenolic compounds from eggplant can be potentially used as a multi-functional food additive with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and food colorant properties.
• Combination of food-packaging materials with antimicrobial substances to control microbial surface contamination of foods. For both migrating and non-migrating antimicrobial materials, intensive contact between the food product and packaging material is required and therefore potential food applications include especially vacuum or skin-packaged products, e.g. vacuum-packaged meat, fish, poultry or cheese.
• Several antimicrobial compounds have been combined with different types of carriers (plastic and rubber articles, paper-based materials, textile fibrils and food-packaging materials).
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)-film containing triclosan to inhibit microbial growth on food surfaces and consequently prolong shelf-life or improve microbial food safety.
• Consumption of carrageenan and other water-soluble polymers used as food additives and decreases the incidence of mammary carcinoma.
• Various plastic additives on the packaging of foods. The approach is based on the current trends and the industrial protocols for the additives used in plastic polymer processing for the development of food packaging materials.
• A wide range of additives is available for enhancing the performance and appearance of food packaging, as well as improving the processing of the compound. Polymer additives are important areas of innovation for packaging materials.
• Use of Non-conventional Cell Disruption Technologies to Extract Potential Food Additives and Nutraceuticals from Microalgae.
• Use of encapsulated natural compounds as antimicrobial additives in food packaging.
Advantages
Food additives extend shelf life of food at low cost and cheaper. It also makes food more nutritious like Vitamin C in bread and improves the sensory qualities of food. Antioxidants and anti-microbial agents aids in keeping food fresh for much longer period. It enhances the availability of seasonal crops and fruits available throughout the year without deterioration. Most of the Sweeteners are non-caloric which can be suggested in therapeutic diets.
Food additives play an important role in ready to eat and serve foods as preservatives and most of them are natural and non-toxicants. It is the most emerging trend to amend and enrich the quality of foods and save time. The applications of various natural additives in food production, processing, packaging and storage of food through modern technology strengthen and emphasize the current and future food market.
(The authors Dr PA.Raajeswari and S.M.Devatha are Assistant Professors (SG), JRF, DST-SERB Project, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore)
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