Clean-label starches, the next generation, at IFT 2018

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Functional native starches are more in need than ever as food formulators search for clean-label ingredient alternatives to meet consumer demands. Starch suppliers introduced their latest clean-label starches at July’s Institute of Food Technologists’ Annual Meeting and Food Expo. The biggest challenge for a native starch is to remain stable in acidic, high-heat, and high-shear conditions. But suppliers today say their next-generation starches can rise to the performance of modified starches on all these fronts.

Ingredion (Westchester, IL) launched its new Novation Prima 309 and 609 certified-organic functional native corn starches. With these new ingredients, Ingredion said “product developers can achieve organic positioning in food systems that require harsh processing conditions and cold-temperature stability.”

Ingredion said Novation Prima 309 and 609 have viscosity and gel strength comparable to modified starches and that they are unique because they provide both process tolerance and cold-temperature stability.

“The starches create a smooth, short texture that, once cooked, do not set to a gel or cause syneresis, even after several freeze/thaw cycles,” the company said in a press release. Applications include organic frozen foods, soups, sauces, dairy and alternative-dairy products, yogurt, baby food, frozen desserts, puddings, and fruit preparations. The starches are also Non-GMO Project Verified. At IFT, Ingredion sampled the new starches in an organic sweet corn eloté soup.

Beneo (Parsippany, NJ) introduced Remypure S52, the company’s second functional native rice starch. This latest starch is said to be well suited to soups, sauces, and ready-to-eat meals. It was designed to remain stable in conditions of low pH, high temperature, and high shear.

The company’s initial Remypure ingredient, Remypure S51, is acid tolerant and heat tolerant, while Remypure S52 is all of that and also extremely shear tolerant, Andrew Estal, Beneo’s director, customer technical service, The Americas, told Nutritional Outlook at IFT.

“When you’re looking to make an application like a dressing or a sauce, or a low-fat mayonnaise, previously you’ve not had a clean-label choice to go to because none of the clean-label options would withstand the shear force of a mill to make that small, small oil and water emulsion that, say, a mayonnaise requires," he said. "Now, Remypure S52 will work in those applications because it has high shear tolerance as well as high acid and high heat tolerance. You can also use it in thermal processing like retorques in baby food jars and pouches whereas previously, you did not have a clean-label native starch that would work.”

In a press release, the company explained: “Beneo has developed an advanced thermal inhibition process technology that strengthens native rice starch granules to enhance their functional properties. The results deliver an ingredient comparable or superior to chemically modified food starches-without the use of chemicals.”

“That’s the process that we use to functionalize the starch,” Estal said. “We start with native rice starch and, at a certain moisture, at a certain temperature, for a certain period of time, this thermal inhibition changes the bond within the starch molecule. It’s completely natural because it’s water and heat.”

Now, these two Remypure starches, S51 and S52, pretty much “cover all applications,” he said. But, he said, Beneo might still release newer starches in the future.

New Modified Starch

Over in modified, non-native starches, recently, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM; Chicago) introduced a new line of specialty modified tapioca starches in partnership with Vedan International (Vietnam). “Over the past few years, ADM has been focused on expanding the range of our starch-based ingredient options-especially those that are plant-based-to provide cleaner label options and solutions for customers,” said Kris DiTommaso, vice president, ADM’s starch business, in a press release. “Tapioca’s neutral taste profile allows it to be used in a wide range of applications…”