Food Additives of Flavoring Agents

As commonly used food additives, the flavoring agents are mainly acid, sweetening, salty and bitter agents. Among them, bitter agents are rarely used, and salty agents generally use salt. The following mainly introduces acid and sweetening agents.

I. Food additives of acid agent

Food additives with the main purpose of giving food sour taste are called the acid agent. Acid can promote the secretion of saliva, gastric juice, bile and other digestive juices, with appetite and digestive effects, and its main role is to adjust the pH of food, used as an antioxidant synergist, to prevent food rancidity or browning, inhibit the growth of microorganisms and prevent food spoilage. Food additive acid agents are mainly organic acids: citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid and adipic acid; inorganic acids: edible phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, etc.

(1) Citric acid

Citric acid is a colorless and transparent crystal or white powder with a mild and refreshing sour taste, which is commonly used in the manufacture of various beverages, soft drinks, wines, candies, snacks, cookies, canned juices, dairy products and other foods.

(2) Malic acid

Malic acid, chemically known as carboxybutyric acid or hydroxysuccinic acid, is a white or fluorescent white solid. It has a special malic aroma and is widely used in yogurt, soda, ice cream, chewing gum, ketchup, jam, vinegar, fruit wine, margarine and so on. Malic acid is better than citric acid in use, with strong acidity, a taste close to natural fruit juice and good pH adjustment. Use it instead of citric acid as acidifier, and the dosage can be saved by 20%, and it can cover up the odor produced by some sucrose substitutes.

II. Food additives of sweetener

Sweetener are food additives whose main purpose is to give food a sweet taste. According to its source, it can be divided into two categories of natural sweetening agents and synthetic sweetening agents. Natural sweetening agents are divided into two categories: sugar and sugar derivatives, non-sugar natural sweetening agents. Synthetic sweetening agents are mainly chemical substances with a sweet taste, and the sweetness is generally tens to hundreds of times higher than sucrose, while most do not have nutritional value.

(1) Saccharin and sodium saccharin

The chemical name of saccharin is o-sulfonyl benzoyl imide, with no heat, high sweetness. The sweetness of saccharin sodium is 300 to 500 times that of sucrose. It is an early development of a chemical synthetic sweetening agent. In early 20th century, it began to be used in food. China has more than 60-year history of its production and use, with a production capacity of 40,000t/year, and is the world's major exporting countries.

(2) Xylitol

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol made by reducing xylose or polyxylose from wood, corn cob and other materials. Xylitol is a white crystalline or crystalline powder with a cool sweet taste and a sweetness of 65% to 100% of that of granulated sugar, with a heat of 12.5kJ/g, which is higher than other sugar alcohols, and has the effect of inhibiting the activity of proteusbacillus vulgaris that forms dental caries. In addition to the commonality of sucrose and glucose, xylitol also has special biochemical properties and can be absorbed by the body through the cell wall without insulin, and has the functions of lowering blood lipids and anti-ketone bodies, which can be used to make beverages, candies, canned foods, etc.

(3) Stevioside

Stevioside is a colorless or light yellow needle-like crystal with a melting point of 196℃to 198℃. It is a mixture of various glycosides extracted from the plant stevia, which is relatively safe and has a sweetness of about 300 times that of sugar. Its taste is similar to sucrose, with pure sweetness, long retention time and delicious aftertaste. It is stable to heat, acid and alkali, and is an ideal low-energy sweetening agent.

(4) Maltitol

Maltitol is 0.8 to 0.9 times sweeter than sucrose and does not produce heat after intake, nor does it synthesize fat and stimulate the formation of cholesterol. The chemical properties of pure maltitol are very stable, with better heat and acid resistance than sucrose, sorbitol and xylitol. Maltitol can resist the digestive action of gastric juice, the hydrolysis of small intestinal enzymes and the decomposition of microorganisms in the large intestine during human digestion. This special physiological property makes maltitol a high-grade health care sweetening agent with excellent taste and no calories.

(5) Aspartame

Aspartame is a new type of amino acid sweetening agent with the appearance of white crystals or crystalline powder, pH: 4.5 to 6.0. Aspartame has a pure sweetness like granulated sugar, 200 times sweeter than sucrose, with no odor, and has a synergistic effect on food flavor. It has good safety performance, does not need insulin to participate in metabolism in the body, can be digested and absorbed quickly, and does not cause dental caries.

(6) Acesulfame

The chemical name is potassium acesulfamate, with the molecular weight of 201.24. Acesulfame is a white crystalline powder with high sweetness, which is about 200 times sweeter than sucrose (mass fraction 3% solution).

(7) Other sweeteners

Mainly oligofructose, erythritol, sweetener, somatose, etc.