Prepared Foods - October 2008 - (Page 68)

ingredient challenges @ISTOCKPHOTO/ROBYN MACKENZIE Citric acid is the most common organic acid used in foods and beverages and is known for its bright, tart flavor that dissipates quickly; it pairs especially well with citrus flavors. ener with that of the acid. For instance, malic acid is known to have a lingering sour taste, and this property can be exploited, when combined with the persistent sweetness of high-intensity sweeteners. Among common high-intensity sweeteners, aspartame and sucralose are the most similar to sugar in terms of their sweetness and lack of bitterness. For aspartame, the duration and intensity of sweetness increases at higher concentrations. Acesulfame-K and saccharin, on the other hand, are known to be two of the most bitter high-intensity sweeteners. To counteract the bitterness, saccharin and acesulfameK are usually blended with another, less bitter sweetener to create a blend such as saccharin-aspartame, acesulfame-Kaspartame or sucralose-acesulfame-K. gistic: the perceived sweetness of the blend is greater than the sum of its individual sweetness ratings. Acids: The Basics Acids are known to enhance the flavor intensity of many foods and beverages, especially fruit flavors. Interestingly, this flavor enhancement has not been attributed to an increase in flavor release from the food or beverage; the exact mechanism of enhancement is likely a combination of several sensory factors. In the culinary world, acids are often added to dishes, especially slow-cooked foods, for freshness and brightness. Although high levels of acids can be quite objectionable, more moderate levels are welcome additions to foods and beverages, especially sweetened products. As mentioned previously, both acids and sweeteners suppress each other in a mixture. Some sensory studies have shown that acids suppress sweetness more than sweeteners suppress sourness. Food acids elicit two responses in the mouth: sourness and astringency. Astringency is often associated with a drying sensation in the mouth, which is believed to be caused @ISTOCKPHOTO/ANTHONY ROSENBERG Sweetener Choices The decision to use either nutritive or non-nutritive sweeteners will have a major impact on the acids used in product formulation. Nutritive sweeteners like HFCS and sucrose provide the fewest headaches from a taste perspective. Despite the negative press surrounding HFCS in the past few years, HFCS 55% (a blend of 55% fructose, 42% glucose and 3% polysaccharides) is still the sweetener of choice for most soft drinks. HFCS 55% is designed to mimic the taste profile of sucrose. Sucrose, the disaccharide of glucose and fructose, is the default sweetener for most foods and beverages. The clean, sweet taste of sucrose is considered the gold standard of sweetness. In fact, the properties of sucrose are used as a benchmark to evaluate all other sweeteners. Nutritive sweeteners not only add sweetness, but also body and mouthfeel to a product. This property is particularly important in beverage applications where the mouth-coating characteristics of a beverage can influence the perception of sweet and sour. High-intensity, non-nutritive sweeteners pose additional challenges for food scientists. Since these sweeteners are added at such low levels to foods and beverages, they do not have the bulking effects of nutritive sweeteners. The lingering sweetness of some highintensity sweeteners—as well as the bitter aftertaste of others—can be difficult to control. When selecting a combination of a high-intensity sweetener and an acid, it is important to match the taste profile of the sweet- An individual’s perception of sweetness while eating or drinking a sweet food or drink tends to decline with repeated exposure to it. 68 October 2008 ● www.PreparedFoods.com http://www.PreparedFoods.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Prepared Foods - October 2008

Prepared Foods - October 2008 Contents Hitting the Shelves Winning Way—Spirit of Innovation Award Winners—Foodservice and Retail MarketWatch Novel Ingredients for Sports Nutrition Products NutraNews The Flavors of Cooking On the National Menu A Matter of Balancing Taste Solving Problems with Dairy Ingredients Colorings: Will I Be Blue? Coloring with Confidence: Inclusions R&D Applications Seminar: Answers for Dairy and Confectionery Applications R&D Applications: Naturally Vibrant Colors R&D Applications: Healthy Foods with Flavor Abstracts

Prepared Foods - October 2008

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