Food uses

1 Edible uses oflauric oils—coconut and palmkemel 

Because of their similarity in composition and properties, PKO and CNO have similar uses in both the edible and the non-edible fields, but there are some differences which are worth noting. 

Palmkemel oil is more unsaturated and so can be hydrogenated to a wider range of products for the food industry, while CNO has a greater content of the more valuable shorter-chain fatty acids, which make it a little more attractive to the oleochemical industry. Some of the main food applications are given below. 

Margarine is a major food product, especially in western countries, with world production in 2000 of 10 MT and the trend is still rising about 1.5% annually (Oil World 2001). It was invented by Hippolyte Mege Mouries of France, who won a State prize for it, and is used as a substitute for butter. It was granted a 

After World War II, with the universal adoption of home refrigerators, it was found that butter was not easy to spread at low temperatures and soft margarines were introduced to overcome this shortcoming. This type of margarine has now become by far the major one for household use. 

Glncose and fructose are generally used as syrups in food ingredients. They have film-forming and adhesive properties and are used as coatings for roasted nuts, candy, fillers, and spray-dried flavors. High-frnctose corn syrnps are nsed as sweeteners and scan almost ubiquitous where sweetening is desired. 

Rare sngars such as o-allose, o-psicose, o-tagatose, and o-talose have been incorporated into health foods and drinks [5], where they are used as bulking, browning, and low-calorie sweetening agents in food preparation [6-8]. These rare sugars have a taste similar to suctosc. 

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Bohman and colleagues described a reverse-phase HPLC method for the quantitative analysis of vitamin A in food using the method of standard additions. In a typical example, a 10.067-g sample of cereal is placed in a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask along with 1 g of sodium ascorbate,... 

When treatment chemicals have to be employed, they may be iacorporated ia the food, used ia dips, flushes and baths, or allowed to remain ia the water for exteaded periods. Siace oae of the first respoases of aquatic animals to disease is reduction or cessation of feeding, treatments with medicated feeds must be initiated as soon as development of an outbreak is suspected. Antibiotics, such as terramycin, can be dissolved in the water, but may be less effective than when given orally. 

The three principal domestic uses for rice in 1988 were direct food (61%), processed food (18%), and beer (20%). The direct food use figure includes the conventional white milled rice plus specialty rice products (parboiled, precooked, aromatic, brown, and prepackaged mixes) shipped directly from the rice mills. The specialty products account for approximately one-fifth of the direct food use. Approximately two-thirds of the direct food use rice is ultimately distributed to consumers through retail outlets and one-third through food service outlets. 

Another group of natural flavoring ingredients comprises those obtained by extraction from certain plant products such as vanilla beans, Hcotice root, St. John s bread, orange and lemon peel, coffee, tea, kola nuts, catechu, cherry, elm bark, cocoa nibs, and gentian root. These products are used in the form of alcohohc infusions or tinctures, as concentrations in alcohol, or alcohol—water extractions termed fluid or soHd extracts. Official methods for their preparation and specifications for all products used in pharmaceuticals are described (54,55). There are many flavor extracts for food use for which no official standards exist the properties of these are solely based on suitabiUty for commercial appHcations (56). 

Colorants. According to U.S. regulations, colorants are divided into two classes certified and exempt (see Colorants for foods, drugs, COSMETICS, AND MEDICAL DEVICES). Batch samples of certified colors must be sent to the FDA for analysis and confirmation that the colorants comply with estabhshed specifications. Color manufacturers pay a small fee for each batch of color that is analy2ed. The number of certified colors available to food technologists has declined. Several of the historical colorants were found to have carcinogenic effects. Table 1 shows the certified colors that are permissible for food use in the United States as of 1993. 

Table 5 presents typical operating conditions and cell production values for commercial-scale yeast-based SCP processes including (63) Saccharomjces cerevisae ie, primary yeast from molasses Candida utilis ie, Torula yeast, from papermiU. wastes, glucose, or sucrose and Klujveromjces marxianus var fragilis ie, fragihs yeast, from cheese whey or cheese whey permeate. AH of these products have been cleared for food use in the United States by the Food and Dmg Administration (77). 

The 1993 market for LPC-type products in the United States was for dried alfalfa meal for animal feed. This product is sold for both protein and carotenoid content. The USDA Pro-Xan product attempts to obtain improved xanthophyU contents for use in egg-laying rations in addition to protein contents. The limitations to commercial development of LPC products for human food use are high capital costs as compared with the low yields of protein, seasonal availabihty of raw materials, and the need in the United States for FDA approval of the products. 

Lactic acid is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for multipurpose food use. Lactate salts such as calcium and sodium lactates and esters such as ethyl lactate used in pharmaceutical preparations are also considered safe and nontoxic (7). The U.S. Food and Dmg Administration fists lactic acid (all isomers) as GRAS and sets no limitations on its use in food other than current good manufacturing practice (46). 

Health and Safety. The U.S. FDA has affirmed R%- and S(—)-maHc acid as substances that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as flavor enhancers, flavoring agents and adjuvants, and as pH control agents at levels ranging from 6.9% for hard candy to 0.7% for miscellaneous food uses (42). R%- and A(—)-maHc acid may not be used in baby foods. MaHc acid is also cleared to correct natural acid deficiencies in juice or wine (43). 

Other Food Uses. Jellies, jams, and preserves use malic acid to balance flavor and adjust pH for pectin set. Canned fmits and vegetables employ malic acid in combination with ascorbic acid to produce a synergistic effect that aids in the reduction of browning. Wine and cider producers use malic acid in malolactic fermentation to provide bouquet and for pH adjustment. 

Methods for iodine deterrnination in foods using colorimetry (95,96), ion-selective electrodes (94,97), micro acid digestion methods (98), and gas chromatography (99) suffer some limitations such as potential interferences, possibHity of contamination, and loss during analysis. More recendy neutron activation analysis, which is probably the most sensitive analytical technique for determining iodine, has also been used (100—102). 

Nearly half of the U.S. domestic food consumption of peanuts in 1993 was as peanut butter salted peanuts, at 27.3%, and peanut candy, at 23.9% made up the other half (137). Although the per capita domestic peanut consumption in the United States has increased steadily, the consumption in recent years has not kept pace with production. Domestic food use of peanuts has been confined almost entirely to roasted peanuts. A number of investigations and developmental efforts are being made to extend the use of nonroasted peanut products such as flour and meal flakes. As of the mid-1990s, market outlets for these latter products are neither sizable nor firmly established. The food-use patterns emphasize the uniqueness and demand for products having a distinct roasted-peanut flavor. The development of the desired flavor as well as the storage stability of such flavor in peanut-food products are therefore important. 

S. Chen, in E. W. Lusas, D. R. Erickson, and W.-K. Nip, eds.. Food Uses of Whole Oil andProtein Seeds, American Oil Chemists Society, Champaign,... 

Another likely commercial starch is that from amaranth seed, an expanding crop for food use, particularly its flour. Amaranth starch granules (1—3 micrometers dia) have potential for numerous food appHcations, one of which is as a fat replacer because of their small size and especially after minor surface hydrolysis with a-amylase or glucoamylase to produce a fluffy surface (see Fat replacers). 

A chlorination process (20,21,44—46) converts sucrose into sucralose [56038-13-2] (4,l, 6 -trichloro-4,l, 6 -trideoxy-galactosucrose), a heat-stable, noncariogenic, noncaloric, high intensity sweetener. Sucralose is approved for food use in Canada, Australia, and Russia. It is not yet approved for use in the United States. 

An excellent overview of vitamin analytics is available (13). Specifications for the vitamins are available for food use (14) and pharmaceutical use (15). 

Specifications for niacin and niacinamide for food use are given in the Vood Chemicals Codex (63) and for pharmaceutical use in the United States Pharmacopeia (64). The Codex also gives specifications for niacinamide ascorbate. 

A series of sorbitol-based nonionic surfactants are used ia foods as water-ia-oil emulsifiers and defoamers. They are produced by reaction of fatty acids with sorbitol. During reaction, cycHc dehydration as well as esterification (primary hydroxyl group) occurs so that the hydrophilic portion is not only sorbitol but also its mono- and dianhydride. The product known as sorbitan monostearate [1338-41 -6] for example, is a mixture of partial stearic and palmitic acid esters (sorbitan monopalmitate [26266-57-9]) of sorbitol, 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol [154-58-8] 1,4-sorbitan [27299-12-3] and isosorbide [652-67-5]. Sorbitan esters, such as the foregoing and also sorbitan monolaurate [1338-39-2] and sorbitan monooleate [1338-43-8], can be further modified by reaction with ethylene oxide to produce ethoxylated sorbitan esters, also nonionic detergents FDA approved for food use. 

Starch acetates [9045-28-7] are made by reaction of starch with acetic anhydride. Starch acetates are used in foods to provide paste clarity and viscosity stabiHty at low temperatures. A waxy maize starch acetate is most commonly used. Waxy maize starch acetates for food use are often cross-linked. Acetylated starches are also widely used in warp sizing of textiles. 

One distinction that can be made in the area of chemurgy is between the use of natural products that are grown solely for industrial purposes as compared to those that are grown primarily for food. In the latter class, industrial materials may be either by-products from food production or substitutes for food uses when the commodity is in surplus. 

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