Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators". In many countries, it is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. It can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets, and contains high levels of saturated fat.
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salting), smoke (smoking), sugar (crystallization), etc. This allows for longer-lasting foods such as bacon, sweets or wines. With the advent of ultra-processed foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly in the manufacturing process, through packaging, or during storage or transport.
A hemicellulose is one of a number of heteropolymers, such as arabinoxylans, present along with cellulose in almost all terrestrial plant cell walls. Cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to hydrolysis. Hemicelluloses are branched, shorter in length than cellulose, and also show a propensity to crystallize. They can be hydrolyzed by dilute acid or base as well as a myriad of hemicellulase enzymes.
Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties useful in food, feed, and industrial applications. The guar seeds are mechanically dehusked, hydrated, milled and screened according to application. It is typically produced as a free-flowing, off-white powder.
Carrageenans or carrageenins are a family of natural linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. Their main application is in dairy and meat products, due to their strong binding to food proteins. In recent years, carrageenans have emerged as a promising candidate in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications as they resemble native glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). They have been mainly used for tissue engineering, wound coverage, and drug delivery.
Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars by fermentation and derives its name from the species of bacteria used, Xanthomonas campestris.
Breyers is a brand of ice cream started in 1866 by William A. Breyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Galactomannans are polysaccharides consisting of a mannose backbone with galactose side groups, more specifically, a (1-4)-linked beta-D-mannopyranose backbone with branchpoints from their 6-positions linked to alpha-D-galactose,.
A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering their taste; thickeners are also used in paints, inks, explosives, and cosmetics.
Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or cellulose gum is a cellulose derivative with carboxymethyl groups (-CH2-COOH) bound to some of the hydroxyl groups of the glucopyranose monomers that make up the cellulose backbone. It is often used as its sodium salt, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. It used to be marketed under the name Tylose, a registered trademark of SE Tylose.
Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large increase in a solution's viscosity, even at small concentrations. They are mostly botanical gums, found in the woody elements of plants or in seed coatings.
In industrial chemistry, a stabilizer or stabiliser is a chemical that is used to prevent degradation.
Tara spinosa, commonly known as tara (Quechua), also known as Peruvian carob or spiny holdback, is a small leguminous tree or thorny shrub native to Peru. T. spinosa is cultivated as a source of tannins based on a galloylated quinic acid structure. This chemical structure has been confirmed also by LC–MS. It is also grown as an ornamental plant because of its large colorful flowers and pods.
Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, milk as examples. It is similar to biochemistry in its main components such as carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, but it also includes areas such as water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, food additives, flavors, and colors. This discipline also encompasses how products change under certain food processing techniques and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from happening. An example of enhancing a process would be to encourage fermentation of dairy products with microorganisms that convert lactose to lactic acid; an example of preventing a process would be stopping the browning on the surface of freshly cut apples using lemon juice or other acidulated water.
The enzyme xanthan lyase catalyzes the following process:
Allene Rosalind Jeanes was an American chemist whose pioneering work significantly impacted carbohydrate chemistry. Born in 1906 in Texas, Jeanes' notable contributions include the development of Dextran, a lifesaving blood plasma substitute used in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and Xanthan gum, a polysaccharide commonly used in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Jeanes' innovations have had a lasting influence on medical treatments and everyday consumer products, highlighting her role as a key figure in applied carbohydrate science. Her achievements earned her numerous accolades, including being the first woman to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry is a biennial conference held in Wrexham, North Wales, since 1981, on the application of hydrocolloids in the food industry. Presentations at the conference cover recent advances in the structure, function and applications of gums and stabilisers, how these materials are used in industrial processes, and also educational material on the subject. The proceedings of each conference have been published, with the most recent published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The conference series is organized by the Food Hydrocolloids Trust.
Heinz Sandwich Spread is a blend of salad cream and relish manufactured by Heinz and popular in the Netherlands and Britain. It is classified by the manufacturer as a sauce or relish. The relish ingredients are Spirit Vinegar, Sugar, Cabbage, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Carrots, Gherkins, Modified Cornflour, Salt, Onions, Egg Yolks, Red Peppers, Mustard, Stabilisers - Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum, Spice Extracts, Spices, Herb Extract, Flavourings, Colour - Riboflavin, VEGETABLES 35%. The salad cream base results in a more tart flavour than similar mayonnaise-based sandwich spreads found in the United States.
In molecular biology, glycoside hydrolase family 5 is a family of glycoside hydrolases EC 3.2.1., which are a widespread group of enzymes that hydrolyse the glycosidic bond between two or more carbohydrates, or between a carbohydrate and a non-carbohydrate moiety. A classification system for glycoside hydrolases, based on sequence similarity, has led to the definition of >100 different families. This classification is available on the CAZy web site, and also discussed at CAZypedia, an online encyclopedia of carbohydrate active enzymes.
