What Are The Types of Food Additive Thickeners?

Polifar, a globally renowned trader of food and feed additives, offers a wide variety of food thickeners. This article focuses on xanthan gum, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, guar gum, sodium polyacrylate, and sodium alginate.

Xanthan Gum

Also known as xanthan gum, xanthan gum, or xanthanid polysaccharide, it is a monospore polysaccharide produced by the fermentation of Xanthomonas spp. Due to its unique macromolecular structure and colloidal properties, it possesses multiple functions and is widely used in various sectors of the national economy.

What are the characteristics of xanthan gum?

(1) Hig-efficiency thickening and suspension: High viscosity can be achieved with extremely low dosages (e.g., 0.1%-0.2%), effectively suspending insoluble solid particles and oil droplets.

(2) Shear thinning: Viscosity decreases during stirring or processing, facilitating handling; viscosity quickly recovers after shearing stops, maintaining product form.

(3) xcellent stability: Heat resistance: Stable over a wide temperature range of -18℃ to 130℃. 

Acid and alkali resistance: Viscosity is minimally affected across a wide pH range of 1 to 12. 

Freeze-thaw resistance: Performance remains unchanged after multiple freeze-thaw cycles.

(4) Broad compatibility: Coexists with various thickeners (such as guar gum, starch, carrageenan), high concentrations of salt, and sugar.

(5) atr retention and freshness preservation: Strong water retention improves bread softness, prevents dehydration of frozen foods, and reduces the likelihood of dumplings becoming mushy.

(6) Improved texture: Makes ice cream smoother, noodles more chewy, and meat products more tender and juicy.

(7) Tasteless and odorless: Does not affect the original flavor of food and has high safety.

What are the uses of xanthan gum?

In the food industry, xanthan gum can be used to make canned and bottled foods, bakery foods, dairy products, frozen foods, salad dressings, beverages, brewing, candies, and pastry flavorings.

Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a water-soluble anionic polymer made from chemically modified natural cellulose. It is a white powder, odorless and tasteless, easily soluble in hot and cold water to form a viscous, transodium polyacrylaterent solution. It possesses multiple functions including thickening, emulsification, suspension, water retention, and adhesion, and is widely used in the food industry.

What are the characteristics of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose?

(1) Thickening and Water Retention: It significantly increases the viscosity of food, locking in moisture. In bread and meat products, it can improve yield and texture.

(2) Emulsification and Stabilization: It stabilizes oil-water mixtures (such as salad dressings and milk drinks), preventing separation. It combines with proteins to form complexes, improving stability.

(3) Freeze-Thaw Resistance: In frozen foods (ice cream), it inhibits ice crystal formation, resulting in a smoother texture and resistance to melting.

(4) Film Formation and Moisturizing: It forms a thin film on the surface of food, reducing moisture loss and extending shelf life, especially effective for fruits and baked goods. 

(5) Gel and Thixotropy: It exhibits thixotropic properties; the viscosity of the solution decreases upon shearing (e.g., stirring) and recovers upon standing, making it suitable for making jellies and sauces.

(6) Texture Improvement: It mimics the gluten structure in gluten-free foods, improving texture; and enhances juiciness in meat products.

(7) Low-Fat Substitution: It can partially replace fat, making it suitable for producing low-calorie, low-fat foods.

(8) Safety: It is non-toxic, not metabolized in the body, and excreted in urine, with a high Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI).

What are the uses of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)?

In the food industry, high-displacement CMC is used as a thickener in ice cream, canned goods, and instant noodles, and as a foam stabilizer in beer. It is also used as a thickener, binder, or shaping agent in the processing of jams, syrups, fruit syrups, desserts, and ice cream drinks.

In the pharmaceutical industry, CMC with appropriate viscosity is selected as a binder and disintegrant in tablets, and a suspending agent in suspensions.

Guar Gum

Guar gum, also known as guar bean gum, is extracted from the endosperm of the seeds of the guar bean, a legume grown in India and Pakistan. Guar gum is a galactomannan and one of the most widely used food additives in the modern food industry. It is a green food additive and is widely used in the food processing industry as a thickener, stabilizer, or suspending agent.

What are the characteristics of guar gum?

(1) Thickening effect: Increases the consistency of foods such as sauces, juices, and beverages.

(2) Stabilizing effect: Stabilizes oil-water mixtures, suspensions, and foams, preventing stratification and sedimentation.

(3) Water-holding effect: Retains moisture in baked goods, extends shelf life, and prevents the formation of large crystals in ice cream.

(4) Viscoelasticity enhancement: Improves dough strength and gas retention capacity.

(5) Emulsifying effect: Helps stabilize emulsions.

What are the uses of guar gum?

(1) Frozen drinks: Ice cream, popsicles, ice cream bars, ice flakes. (1) Flour Products: Primarily acts as a stabilizer, preventing ice crystal formation, and also thickens and emulsifies.

(2) Flour Products: Noodles, dried noodles, instant noodles, vermicelli. It acts as a binder, retains moisture, increases gluten strength, maintains excellent quality, and extends shelf life.

(3) Beverages: Peanut milk, almond milk, walnut milk, orange juice, fruit tea, various solid beverages, and eight-treasure porridge. It acts as a thickener, retains moisture, and acts as a stabilizer, also thickening, emulsifying, and improving texture.

(4) Dairy Products: Fruit milk, yogurt. Primarily acts as a stabilizer, and also thickens, emulsifies, and improves texture.

(5) Soy Products: Tofu, soy milk. Acts as a stabilizer.

(6) Meat Products: Ham sausage, luncheon meat, fish balls. Primarily acts as a binder, improves texture, and increases volume.

(7) Candies: Various soft candies, chewy candies. Used as a gelling agent, improves texture, and extends shelf life.

(8) Condiments: Soy sauce, vinegar. It has a stabilizing effect and thickens the product, thus extending its shelf life.

Sodium polyacrylate

Sodium polyacrylate is a high-molecular-weight compound with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. It is a white powder, odorless and tasteless, highly hygroscopic, and slowly dissolves in water to form a highly viscous, transodium polyacrylaterent liquid. sodium polyacrylate is mainly produced from acrylic acid as a raw material. Initiators and polymerization modifiers are added to a solvent to initiate polymerization, followed by neutralization with alkali.

What are the characteristics of sodium polyacrylate?

1. In food, it has the following effects:

(1) Enhances the binding force of proteins in the flour.

(2) Enables starch particles to bind together and disperse into the protein network structure.

(3) Forms a dense dough with a smooth and glossy surface.

(4) Forms a stable dough colloid, preventing the leakage of soluble starch.

(5) Has strong water retention, keeping moisture evenly distributed in the dough and preventing dryness.

(6) Improves the extensibility of the dough.

(7) Stably disperses the oil components in the raw materials into the dough.

2. As an electrolyte, it interacts with proteins, altering protein structure, enhancing the viscoelasticity of food, and improving texture.

3. Due to its slow solubility in water, it can be pre-mixed with sugar, powdered starch syrup, emulsifiers, etc., to increase the dissolution rate.

4. As a clarifying agent (polymeric coagulant) for sugar solutions, salt water, beverages, etc.

What are the uses of sodium polyacrylate?

(1) Bread, cakes, noodles, pasta: improves raw material utilization, improves taste and flavor. Dosage: 0.05%.

(2) Aquatic porridge products, canned foods, dried seaweed, etc.: strengthens texture, maintains freshness, and enhances flavor.

(3) Sauces, tomato sauce, mayonnaise, jam, cream, soy sauce: thickener and stabilizer.

(4) Fruit juices, alcoholic beverages, etc.: dispersant.

(5) Ice cream, caramel sugar: improves taste and stability.

(6) Frozen foods, processed aquatic products: surface gelling agent (preservative).

Sodium alginate

Sodium alginate is a natural water-soluble polysaccharide extracted from brown algae such as kelp and giant kelp. It is the sodium salt of alginic acid, appearing as a white to pale yellow powder. It is non-toxic and possesses strong thickening, stabilizing, gelling, emulsifying, and film-forming properties. It is widely used as a food thickener, stabilizer, pharmaceutical excipient, and cosmetic ingredient. It can form an irreversible gel with calcium ions.

What are the characteristics of sodium alginate?

(1) Natural source: Extracted from the cell walls of brown algae, it is a natural polymer.

(2) Water solubility: Easily soluble in water, forming a viscous solution.

(3) Gel properties: Forms an irreversible gel with calcium ions.

(4) Functionality: Thickening, stabilizing, emulsifying, film-forming, chelating (binding heavy metals), etc.

(5) Safety: Non-toxic, listed as a safe food additive, and known as a "miracle food additive."

What are the uses of sodium alginate?

(1) Thickening/Stabilizing: Used in ice cream, dairy products, beverages, salad dressings, jams, ketchup, etc., to provide a smooth texture and prevent ice crystal formation.

(2) Shaping/Imitation: Used in the production of crystal gummies, imitation meat products, fillings, etc.

(3) Preservation: Coated with fruits, meats, and seafood to extend shelf life.

(4) Flour Products: Improves the binding properties of noodles, rice noodles, etc.

(5) Health Benefits: As dietary fiber, it binds to harmful heavy metals and helps to excrete them from the body.

In conclusion, food additive thickeners occupy an important position in the food industry. Xanthan gum, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, guar gum, sodium polyacrylate, and sodium alginate all have wide applications, providing a solid material foundation for global food safety and food diversification. Polifar remains committed to providing the highest quality food additives to its customers.