Food Marketing & Technology - India May 2019 | Page 22

Cover Story
Figure 2: CAVAMAX® Enhances Cake Texture of Egg-free Cake Recipes - Sensory Evaluation
a long shelf life, may contain cholesterol
and are potentially allergenic.
Cyclodextrins offer an alternative way
of producing oil-in-water emulsions.
The interior of this ring-shaped
sugar molecule is lipophilic, while
its exterior is hydrophilic, allowing
it to interact with the food matrix in
many different ways. Residual fatty
acid chains of triglycerides can slip
into the interior of the cyclodextrin,
for example, stabilizing the interfaces
of the otherwise immiscible oil and
water phases of the emulsion. In this
way, cyclodextrin can be added to
many products as a replacement for
classic animal-based emulsifiers or
emulsifying ingredients, such as egg or
dairy proteins. By using cyclodextrins,
the industry can completely omit egg
from spreads, mayonnaise and fine
bakery wares, and market products
that are labeled accordingly.
The option of eliminating ingredients
like eggs, which, while valuable, pose
certain hygienic risks, is important in a
number of respects. On the one hand,
doing so allows industry to do a better
job of meeting its food quality and
consumer protection responsibilities
– which is the goal of industryspecific
quality systems such as HACCP
(Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points). On the other hand, omitting
ingredients like these makes it easier to
keep supply chains, price fluctuations
and manufacturing
control, (see figure 2).
costs
under
The trend toward entirely or at least
partly dispensing with foods that
contain animal products – and looking
instead to vegan or vegetarian fare –
is increasingly popular and satisfies
the desire of many people to eat more
consciously and sustainably. And it is
especially in this regard that demands
and expectations have been growing
Cyclodextrins - Magic
Molecules
Cyclodextrins
are
natural
degradation products of starch.
They are bioengineered from plant-
based raw materials such as corn or
potatoes with the aid of enzymes.
Special enzymes – cyclodextrin
glycosyltransferases, abbreviated to
CGTases – cut individual pieces out
of the helically wound structure of
amylose (a fraction of starch) and
join them to form a ring-shaped
oligosaccharide – the cyclodextrin.
The exact number of glucose units
determines whether α-, β- or
γ-cyclodextrin is formed: alpha-
cyclodextrins consist of six glucose
units,
beta-cyclodextrins
have
seven, while gamma-cyclodextrins
Food Marketing & Technology
22
May 2019
are made up of eight. In turn, the
number of units determines the size
of the molecule’s ring and cavity.
Gamma-cyclodextrins usually have
a diameter of between 7.5 and 8.3
angstrom, whereas the diameter
of alphacyclodextrins is just 5.3
angstrom. Gammacyclodextrins can
therefore accommodate larger guest
molecules than their much smaller
alpha-cyclodextrin counterparts. A
key property of cyclodextrins is their
hydrophilic (water-loving) exterior
and their lipophilic (fat-loving)
cavity. This cavity can hold lipophilic
guest molecules, so long as they are
the right size and exhibit the right
properties. Van der Waals forces
hold the guest molecule inside the
cavity without chemically modifying
it.