Stabilizer Solutions

Stabilizer Solutions

By Cindy Hazen 
Contributing Editor

The task of a food developer is to blend combinations of ingredients in such a way as to achieve a desired outcome. It can be like trying to bring diverse groups of people together. Some people are naturally drawn to each, get along well and, in some cases, are stronger together than separately. Some may be neutral and fit into any gathering. Others are more difficult and may actually disrupt the harmony of the group.

Stabilizing ingredients, it appears, can have distinct personalities. While a particular gum will have a specific attribute or function where it excels, it may react differently under certain circumstances or in the presence of another gum or with other ingredients. So the developer needs to not only know a gums strengths, but must also be aware of its particular likes and dislikes.

Understanding hydrocolloid harmony 

Hydrocolloids are branched or straight polysaccharide chains that may contain thousands to tens of thousands of monosaccharide units. These polysaccharide chains contain water-binding hydroxyl groups, and they may contain side groups such as esters and sulfates. They may possess a positive or negative charge. According to Maureen Akins, food scientist, TIC Gums, Inc., Belcamp, MD, a gums behavior is largely due to its structure. Some gums provide more entanglement while others provide more disruption. Some gums, such as gum arabic, only coexist peacefully with arabinogalactan gums that share a similar structure.

Understanding the preferences of hydrocolloids is important for a number of reasons. In certain applications, ingredient harmony allows each gum to bring its own functional benefit to the system. Some ingredients in combination behave in an entirely different manner than each would act individually. Synergistic ingredients can often provide significant cost savings, because they allow lower use levels of more expensive ingredients while achieving a strong effect. Lastly, the interactions of hydrocolloids impact shelf life.

Gum groundwork 

There are a few basic aspects to know about when working with gums. Rodger Jonas, national business development manager, P.L. Thomas & Co., Inc., Morristown, NJ, cautions that synergies are dependent on what you are trying to achieve. One plus one does not equal two, he says. Its not a 50:50 blend.

In many cases, any ratio of gums will be synergistic, but some are better than others. You have to know what the right ratio is to get the best synergy, Akins says. There are advantages to using prepared blends of gums. We already know which components are going to work best together. We did the work and figured out the best ratio, she says. Because gums are generally used at very low levels, it can be easy to make a mistake when measuring them out. If you only have to add one ingredient, theres less chance for error.

Akins recommends dry-blending a gum with another powdered ingredient. Sugar is a beautiful dispersing aid, she says. We would recommend dry blending five parts of sugar to one part of gum. Add liquids in the bottom of your tank first, turn your mixer on and then add your gums. Thats the best way to get it in without ending up with lumps.

Selecting the right gum or stabilizer blend requires forethought. Its important to consider the concentration of other ingredients. Acids and salts are really the biggest hydration inhibitors, says Akins. Alcohol can also be a little bit tricky for some gums to handle. CMCs (carboxymethylcelluloses) are very tolerant with high alcohol concentrations, but alginates are not able to maintain stability. High solids can also make it difficult for gums to get into solution. Few stabilizers work well in a high-Brix solids product like a jam or jelly. Pectin works beautifully, of coursethats what everyone generally usesand agar will also work beautifully, but carrageenans are more sensitive to that type of environment, she says.

Jonas says in developing the optimum stabilizing system, you must first determine what it is youre trying to achieve: That means you need to evaluate the type of product that youre going to make. Do you want thickening, viscosity or gelation? Do you want whipping? Do you want syneresis control? All of the above determine what type of gum were going to put in the system.

Labeling requirements, such as natural or organic, may be important. Process variables, such as time, temperature and pH, influence the selection of a gum. Is the environment going to utilize high shear? Jonas asks. What are the storage conditions? All those things put together give you a direct linkage to where you need to be.

Starch systems 

Starches and gums are commonly used together. According to Akins, carrageenans and starches are synergistic. Carrageenans and starches provide better mouthfeel than they do otherwise separately, she says. They are used in combination in dairy products like yogurts or puddings. The choice of carrageenan, whether kappa, iota or lambda, as well as the choice of starch, such as corn, tapioca, potato or rice, would determine the final outcome, but synergies exist with all of them. As an example, she says, For a pudding application, I would use a corn starch and a kappa carrageenan, and thats going to give me a really beautiful texture and a nice, creamy mouthfeel.

Using a modified cross-linked starch is important to applications subject to high shear and temperature. Tonya Armstrong, senior applications scientist, Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, IA, suggests using a highly modified starch in creating baked-goods fillings. In a filling, its used to give the product viscosity and stability over time, she says. Most fillings are being cooked in a steam-jacketed kettle and are hot-filled into pails and drums. The filling then continues to cook in the pails or drums for a few days and possibly up to a week depending on the rate of cooling. Prior to baking, the fillings are pumped, probably through a dual-extruder, like a Rheon machine, or deposited on top of the cookie. The modified food starch has to be able to withstand two heat cycles in addition to the shear of pumping, she continues. If the modified starch cannot withstand the two heat cycles and shear during processing, we usually recommend adding a gum such as xanthan to the system, especially in the low-pH fruit filling. In bakery fillings, the modified food starch is usually used at levels between 3% and 6%, while a gum may be used between 0.05% to 0.15%.

Xanthan gums are especially useful in these applications, because they can be used at lower levels with starches than other gums. Additionally, they are uniquely acid-stable and resistant to shear and temperature. Lastly, the combination of xanthan and starch is ideal for freeze/thaw and refrigerated stability.

For most filling applications, the modified starch needs to have both substitution and cross-linking on the starch. The substitution will help with the freezer and refrigerator stability, while the cross-linking will help with heat, shear and acid stability, says Armstrong. Many different kinds of gums can be used in fillings, depending on the pH of the product. For fruit or lower-pH fillings, combinations of guar, locust bean gum or xanthan gum can be used to provide a short texture to the filling. Pectin, gellan and carrageenan can also be used, depending on pH, temperature and shear used during processing of the filling. She cautions that its almost always important to consider stability, even if a customer does not request it. You really dont know what people are doing with the filling, especially if the baked product is being shipped across the mountains and goes through several freeze/thaw cycles. The customer may also be refrigerating or freezing the baked good, even if the instructions are to store at room temperature.

Iota carrageenan is synergistic with starch. That can increase the viscosity of a solution by approximately 10 times the amount of just using starch by itself, says Donna Pechillo, senior research scientist, FMC BioPolymer, Philadelphia. By adding iota carrageenan in a solution containing starch, it will help with the shear recovery if you have a starch that is subject to breakdown upon shearing. With the addition of iota carrageenan in starch-containing products, you can reduce your starch by about 25% to 40%, and it will also improve your texture and flavor release in many food products. This typically allows a reduced concentration of flavor due to the reduction in starch level, which would cause flavor masking in the finished product.

Combining iota carrageenan and starch also provides processing benefits. When you reduce your starch levels, you can decrease the throughput time in a manufacturing facility because of the fact that it will be shear-thinning and it will maintain a lower viscosity during heating at high temperatures, says Pechillo. These combinations are usually utilized in applications such as sauces.

Konjac flour is also synergistic with starch. As with xanthan gum or iota carrageenan, Pechillo advises that each have different synergies. It depends on the type of stabilizers and the other ingredients included in the application as to how much synergy you will observe, she says. Thats why we usually recommend anywhere from a 25% to a 40% decrease in the amount of starch in place of just starch alone. You will just have to adjust for what type of starch you have, and also what your system is comprised of.

William Blakemore, research fellow, FMC BioPolymer, says that for many applications with konjac flour they would normally go with a potato starch. However, he notes that it may call for a more-complicated starch, depending on the application.

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) can improve different types of sauces. It can be used in any type of product that you want to reduce starch to improve your flavor release and improve your cling, says Pechillo. We usually recommend that people can use four parts of starch and one part of MCC to give them a 25% reduction in starch. This combination will also enhance heat stability and improve processing over time, important factors for products that undergo long periods of high-temperature processing and high shear. Because MCC products are very shear-resistant, it doesnt matter how much shear you actually put into a system that has the MCC in there, she says. It will actually improve the functionality of your starch, which could break down upon shearing and heating.

Starches and gums work well in cake battersto a point. Most cake producers are overstabilizing their bakery products, says Armstrong. In adding too many starches and gums, the hydrocolloids in the cakes do not completely hydrate, which leads to batters which are too thick and finished cakes which shrink and crack, and have lots of tunneling problems. We normally recommend using a pregelatinized, modified starch around 1% of finished formula weight. If the cake manufacturer needs to add a gum, add a very small amount, 0.05% to 0.10% of guar, in addition to the modified food starch.

Combinations of gums can impact more than one issue in a product. Sometimes the lines blur as to whether the gums cause a synergistic effect or simply improve a particular problem. Guar and xanthan provide texture and help tolerance in a product with a tendency toward crystallizaton. Youre getting ice because the water is not tightly bound up, Jonas says. Its separating out and crystallizes as ice and, over time, destroys the texture. If the product is not set properly, you can have starch and/or sugar come to the surface. Its all about tolerance.

In trying to achieve optimum tolerance, its often tempting to overreach at the expense of optimization. Remember how these products are made, Jonas cautions. Its one thing to build something on a lab bench and then take it to the pilot plant. But then to survive the regular and rigorous process conditions of a manufacturing facility, and then make it all the way through storage conditions and make its way to the consumer, thats where you have to build tolerance.

The important point to remember, according to Jonas, is that there are different ways to connect depending on what you need to do. Sometimes its just cost, sometimes its just getting more bang for the buck. Or you can get two different impacts by blending these together. Im using guar for thickening, and Im using xanthan to help prevent syneresis and also stabilize my emulsion. Also, guar is helping me reduce my costs. Guar is the cheapest. But each gum has its own key parameter that it impacts.

Carrageenan concoctions 

Carrageenans fall into three categories: kappa, iota and lambda carrageenan. Primarily when were thinking about synergies, were going to talk about kappa and iota carrageenan, says Pechillo. Each is synergistic with different types of ingredients, and they can be utilized in different applications. The kappa product, which is primarily used to create a strong, firm, brittle type of a gel, can be utilized in conjunction with locust bean gum or konjac flour, and they will show synergistic tendencies by improving your finished texture, increasing your gel strength and increasing moisture-binding, she says. These combinations customize a gel structure, which might be helpful in formulating something like a water dessert gel.

Kappa carrageenan is synergistic with locust bean gum. This is one of the best ways to increase cost savings with a system that is using locust bean gum, suggests Pechillo. Systems with clarified locust bean gum are very costly, she notes, so you can add some kappa carrageenan to increase the strength that you get from locust bean gum and also modify your gel texture.

All carrageenans interact with proteins, and this produces many synergistic interactions. For example, dairy milk primarily reacts with kappa casein, although you do have interactions with all of the caseins, says Blakemore. This is a salt bridge where you have positive charges on the protein reacting with negative charges on the carrageenan, and that sets up a structure. The structure becomes stronger depending on the types of carrageenan and also the types of protein and processing that you put the proteins through. You will get different structures depending on whether its a pasteurization or whether its a UHT process. All the interactions are different.

Switching from dairy protein to soy protein means working with differences in the protein structures. Consequently, you will need different carrageenans or different concentrations of carrageenans for the same synergistic effect, Blakemore says. Mainly for milks you would be using kappa, although you can, in some cases, get benefits using both kappa and iota. Kappa and iota carrageenans are not synergistic, but together can prevent protein precipitation.

Because the proteins react differently, different systems are required for fresh soymilks versus those made from soy isolate. In some you can use just kappa and in other cases you might use kappa and iota. It depends on the process being used and the other ingredients that are put in, says Blakemore.

Designers may also have to adjust their ingredients if they have a UHTtype of a system as opposed to a batch pasteurized product. They can all affect your finished product, says Pechillo.

Addition of anions will also impact carrageenan systems. Calcium interacts with iota carrageenan. Calcium, of course, will bridge proteins as well, says Blakemore. So when you add calcium to the product, youre adding another ingredient that can set up structure, so you need to adjust the other structural components to compensate. 

Potassium and sodium ions will interact with kappa carrageenan. Potassium will increase the strength of the kappa carrageenan, while sodium will decrease the gel strength of the kappa carrageenan.

Excessive amounts of these cations will induce gelation. While gelation may not be suitable in a milk, it can benefit puddings. In applications that require some thickening, this cationic synergy can prove favorable.

If you could look at chocolate milk and then look at something of the consistency of a shake, thats something of a pudding, says Blakemore. You can see that they are all just continuums of the same reaction.

Adept antagonism 

Synergism isnt always the desired result. Antagonism is the opposite of synergism, but its equally valuable. Antagonism is just as important as synergy, because antagonism can prevent reactions from taking place, Blakemore says. Kappa carrageenan and iota carrageenan are not synergistic. For instance, in milks, the use of both kappa and iota carrageenans can prevent precipitation of the protein, because youre forming a structure that is stable. Each of the carrageenans alone would normally react with the protein. Adding the other carrageenan acts as a third ingredient that interferes with that precipitation step. You end up with stability, he says. In some cases, you would find that the kappa carrageenan and the protein may tend to precipitate, particularly if you drop the pH. But if you use iota carrageenan or some other things in there, like pectins or other gums, then you can interfere with that reaction because youre adding something that interacts with both components and prevents them from getting together and precipitating. Youre creating a more-complicated structure. Theres no one structure interacting with another. Youve got several interactions going on, and the net result is stability because nothing happens.

Kappa carrageenan and iota carrageenan form incompatible gel structures. When you combine the two in a water gel, you will find that the gel strength will be lower than you anticipate, Blakemore says. But youll get a highly desirable texture, because youre getting strength from the kappa carrageenan and youre getting the elastic, Jello-like texture from the iota carrageen. So the combinations can be very good, but when this mixture is cooled to set, one structure will set first and interferes with the other. So thats why you get an antagonism, he explains which actually gives you a better product, a more-consumer-acceptable product.

Gum arabic is famous for its antagonistic nature. Its definitely because of the structure, Akins says. Generally, gum arabic is used in very high usage levels, because it really doesnt afford a whole lot of viscosity. Its generally used as an emulsifier, in beverage emulsions especially. If I try to add a thickening agent such as xanthan, youll actually get the xanthan to fall out of solution because of the entanglement that occurs because of the structure of gum arabic. The molecule is very highly branched, making it very difficult for anything else to be in solution with it at the same time. If you have a solution concentration of gum arabic greater than 10%, you basically cant get any gums except for ones that very similar in structure, like gum ghatti, which is another arabinogalactan of the same family, she says. If you use if at low levels, its not nearly as evidentits only when you get in those higher usage levels, which are very common for gum arabic usage. You can get up to 60%. Its really, really thin. Thats why you can stabilize your beverage emulsion and not really gain any viscosity with it.

Creative combinations 

The synergy between guar gum and xanthan gum is well known. Separately, they are both fairly viscous products, but in combination in the right ratio you can really dramatically increase your viscosity, says Akins. Its a huge cost savings. Xanthan is more expensive. In addition, guar gum tends to be less pH-stable than xanthan. Xanthan can provide a protective effect to the guar gum, she says, so that the stability can be edged further down, maybe 3.8 on the pH scale when used in combination. It works beautifully in any type of sauce or soup application. Its very potent, so really the usage levels can be anywhere from 0.1% even up to 0.5% if you need something thats extremely viscous. Guar and xanthan in combination are totally cold-water soluble. We actually have agglomerated versions, meaning that we make the particle size very large so that it can disperse more easily into solution.

Konjac flour is synergistic with xanthan. In this instance, the two gel as a very thixotropic gel. You can dilute it, and when you dilute it, it behaves like a thick liquid, Blakemore says. Its got pourability. He compares the consistency to that of an Italian salad dressing: You can make an Italian salad dressing just using iota carrageenan, because that is thixotropic, too. In other words, when you move it, it pours, and when you let it set, it will stabilize the particles in it and suspend them. The xanthan and konjac flour will do the same. Its just a weak gel structure.

Pechillo suggests using the konjac flour and xanthan gum combination in a fruit drink to reduce your overall stabilizer level while providing a clean mouthfeel and flavor release. Its also utilized in applications such as meats or vegetarian-type analogues such as a veggie patty, she says.

Xanthan and locust bean gum provides another valuable synergy. Heating is required to activate, but when you heat it, upon cooling, it actually forms a gel, explains Akins. Separately, neither of those products would ever form a gel, but when you put them in combination, it will form a gel. Its a very soft, elastic gel. Its wonderful for use in pie fillings, very nice, smooth texture, she says. By itself, xanthan would act as a viscosifier and suspending aid, while locust bean gum is known for its mouthfeel.

These two gums almost always form a gel in combination. If I just wanted to use the two things for their standalone functionality, Id probably use xanthan and guar, or I would change out my xanthan to maybe CMC and use CMC and locust bean gum or something like that, says Akins.

It goes back to the structure of the molecules. Guar basically has a 2:1 substitution and locust bean gum basically has 4:1 substitution, says Akins. Thats why we have more entanglement with the guar and the xanthan than I get with the locust bean gum and the xanthan. Essentially, theres more disruption in the xanthan-guar than in the locust-bean-xanthan. The locustbean- xanthan will gel and the guarxanthan only creates more viscosity. 

Jonas believes that guar is the No. 1 gum to blend with everything else. Its the most versatile, he says. It has the most-synergistic effect, and its also one of the most cost-effective gums there is. But you have to know which guar to use, he cautions: There are several, mostly related to particle size. There are different types of guars for whatever application youre trying to achieve and how much viscosity you want.

For example, P.L. Thomas offers a specialty guar gum that mimics CMC. CMC is not natural, says Jonas. Guar is. But CMC will give you high viscosity in a short period of time, and most guars take a couple of hours to start developing viscosity and then 24 hours to give the full impact. Instead, the company developed a specialty guar that gives high viscosity and is more controllable especially in coldwater solutions. Further, it can be blended with CMC to cut costs. You can still get your functionality, depending on how high a level and how quick you need it, he says.

Using CMC in combination with guar gum can cut cost. CMCs are wonderful thickeners, have excellent rheological properties, and theyre crystal-clear in solution if you use them by themselvesbut they can be a little more expensive, Akins says. So, if youre looking for something thats going to be a little more cost effective, we have blends that use guar and CMC together, but thats not really a synergism; its still going to give you a proportional amount of viscosity. Its not not an actual synergistic effect like guar and xanthan gives.

MCC, on the other hand, adds opacity. MCC will enhance the appearance of many applications, such as beverages, if you want to make something look creamier, thicker, says Pechillo. The MCC will provide you with suspension properties at low use levels. Utilized with carrageenan, MCC provides an antagonistic effect. It will prevent protein flocculation from occurring, she says.

High-methoxyl (HM) pectin and alginate are synergistic. Using the two together will gain the benefits of both the pectin and the alginate at lower solids levels than would be necessary for HM pectin alone, and it will provide a reversible gel which could be utilized in applications such as fruit fillings or fruit syrups and toppings, says Pechillo. HM pectin is insensitive to calcium. Alginates gel in the presence of calcium. Using the two in combination slows down the reaction between the alginate and the calcium, she says. It will help to enhance the finished products, and then the alginate will enhance the functionality of the pectin because of the fact the pectin would need high solids to gel. In this case it will not, because the alginate will actually provide most of the gelling.

The possibilities of mixing gums and hydrocolloids seem endless. Some add unique functionality. Some provide synergy. Some provoke antagonism. Youre hard-pressed to find food products that dont have a combination of gums in them, because everyone is trying to utilize every gum to its best potential and at the lowest use level that you can possibly get them in for cost effectiveness, says Pechillo. In general, the industry is leaning toward using lower use levels than they probably would like just because of cost of functional ingredients, with everybody trying to reduce their overall costs. Thats my general feel.

Blakemore agrees: Manufacturers are always looking for lower-cost alternatives. We spend a lot of time focusing on that to make sure that were offering materials that are the most cost effective in use.

The key to creating optimum systems is not unlike hosting a large dinner party or family gathering. Find out the people who get along and those who dont, and then place them accordingly.

Cindy Hazen, a 20-year veteran of the food industry, is a freelance writer based in Memphis, TN. She can be reached at

[email protected].