Food thickener in jelly

Jelly is a semi-solid jelly-like food prepared from edible sugars and food thickeners, supplemented by sour agents, colorants and flavors.

In the jelly production process, the key technical point is the application of jelly gelling agent. Although the addition of food thickeners in jelly products is extremely low, it has a decisive effect on the shape of the jelly, giving the jelly its elasticity and plasticity.

Source and classification of food thickeners

Food thickeners currently used in the food industry can be divided into the following categories according to their sources: plant-derived thickeners, seaweed-derived thickeners, animal and microbial thickeners, and natural semi-synthetic thickeners .

Plant-derived thickeners are mostly plant polysaccharides, which are extracted and purified from plant mucus, such as locust bean gum, tamarind gum, linseed gum, guar gum, pectin, gum arabic, etc.;

Seaweed-derived thickeners are seaweed colloids extracted from seaweeds. The more commonly used carrageenan, alginic acid and their sodium salts all belong to this type of thickener;

Animal-derived thickeners are hydrophilic gels extracted from animal tissues, and their chemical components are mostly animal proteins, such as gelatin, chitosan, casein, etc.;

Microbial thickeners are macromolecular polysaccharides extracted from microbial extracellular metabolites, such as gellan gum and xanthan gum;

The natural semi-synthetic thickener is a polymer compound obtained by modifying its molecules through some chemical modifications, such as cellulose derivatives, modified starch, and starch hydrolysates.