Kemin offers solutions to protect the sensory appeal of cereals and bakery products
We don’t just eat with our taste buds, also our eyes and nose play a significant role in what products we prefer. That’s why appearance is the first impression and the deciding factor for consumers, when they buy food products. But, as with all food products, over time they begin to deteriorate. This is also the case for cereals and baked goods. But what if we could slow oxidation and rancidity?
To better understand, optimise and tailor, it is important to recognise the basic principles and influencing factors in sensory perception. That’s why, at Kemin, we constantly perform research to measure, analyse and interpret reactions of foods and ingredients as they are perceived by the senses of sight, smell and touch.
Added ingredients affect shelf life
Besides bread and breakfast cereals, a wide variety of bakery products such as cakes and pastries are available on the market, each with their own blend of ingredients and sensory attributes. The amount of cereal based ingredients used may differ significantly. Therefore, other ingredients such as oils and fats have a considerable influence on their sensory characteristics, thus also affecting the shelf life of these products.
Since appearance and freshness are so closely linked, frosted cakes or donuts need to look freshly frosted and crisp, crunchy popcorn, nuts as well as other savoury snacks need to look as if they just emerged from the popper, roaster or oven. Once purchased, consumers expect your bakery product’s sensory attributes to pay off on the promise suggested by its fresh appearance.
A loss of freshness means your product may:
- Lose taste
- Lose mouthfeel
- Lose moisture
- Lose softness
- Lose crispness
Flavour is mainly formed during processing, and the relatively plain flavour of grain may be considerably adjusted by different bioprocessing techniques. Enzymatic reactions such as the oxidation or hydrolysation of lipids can occur, resulting in undesirable flavour notes. Sensory attributes may be related to certain volatile and non-volatile compounds, often specific to each processing technique.
Also, storage has a significant effect on shelf life, risking baked goods to become stale. Two main factors influence the deterioration of the quality of cereal products, rancidity of the flavour and dryness of the texture. Flavour deterioration during storage may result from both volatilisation of desired attributes as well as the development of undesired off-flavours. High moisture levels, light, temperature and high oxygen concentrations increase the development of rancidity.
Solutions
Our goal is to retain the fresh appearance and sensory qualities of baked goods. Kemin flavour solutions help protect delicious flavour and texture by protecting the crucial fats and oils in bakery and confectionery products. By helping to slow oxidation and prevent rancidity, our solutions provide the stability needed to present the freshest looking product possible.
FORTIUM® R is a complete line of rosemary extract-based products designed for flavour optimisation. Our line of rosemary products will be an effective tool to increase shelf life via its antioxidant properties. FORTIUM R provides a clean label alternative to traditionally used synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), or tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). Furthermore, Kemin offers synergistic or complementary flavouring blends with rosemary extract, gallic acid, green tea extract and other clean label ingredients.
Another good alternative is FORTIUM T, a line of robust and label-friendly food antioxidants based on plant-derived tocopherols. These natural antioxidants are effective at protecting bakery products and cereals from colour and flavour degradation. Our plant-derived antioxidants have shown to be especially efficacious in extending the shelf life of food products with a high fat content. Kemin offers both liquid and dry formulations as well as blends with plant-based extracts.
