The coincidence of delicious and healthy--natural food additives

At present, the total number of food additives used in the world has reached more than 14,000, of which about 4,000 are directly used. The development and development of food additives in China has originated in the past one or two decades. Up to now, the food additives approved by China have covered more than 1,500 kinds of 22 categories, including more than 700 kinds of edible flavors. As a catalyst for the modern food industry, the market potential of food additives will be immeasurable.

Developed natural food additives

In recent years, China has actively advocated the "natural, nutritious, multi-functional" policy in the production of food additives, consistent with the trend of "return to nature, nature, nutrition, low heat, low fat" advocated by the international community. The development of natural, nutritious and multifunctional food additives has unique advantages.

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Sweetener. Natural sweeteners generally have the advantages of high safety, good taste, high stability and good water solubility, which are beneficial to the health of people with hyperglycemia, and also have other health care functions. As a result, market demand is growing at a rate of about 8% per year, and research on natural sweeteners has received widespread attention.Natural sweeteners include stevioside, licorice, disodium glycyrrhizinate, tripotassium glycyrrhizinate and trisodium. Among them, the sweetness of licorice is 250 times that of sucrose. When used, a small amount of sucrose and sodium citrate can reduce the amount of sucrose, effectively avoid the sweetness caused by excessive sucrose concentration, and have a flavor-increasing function.Licorice root is mainly derived from licorice, and licorice has a very long history as a herbal medicine. In addition to imparting sweetness, licorice can also alleviate salty taste and enhance food aroma, and has good thermal stability. Therefore, extracts of licorice and licorice are widely used as food additives in various foods. Studies have shown that licorice extract can be modified to improve sweetness and solubility. At present, there are still difficulties in producing licorice by plant cell culture methods, and licorice is mainly extracted from wild or planted licorice plants. Wild licorice plants are on the verge of extinction due to overexploitation and utilization.

Natural preservatives. It is also called a natural organic preservative. It is a food preservative that has been secreted by organisms or has antibacterial activity in the body itself.Research on natural food preservatives has been very active. Inhibin is a small molecule peptide or protein that releases bactericidal action outside the cell by the synthesis of eukaryotic organism ribosomes. Usually composed of 30 to 60 amino acids, it is a very effective biological preservative.The application of bacteriostats in foods can be broadly classified into three categories: inoculation with bacteria producing bacteriocin; direct addition of purified statin substances; and fermentation products producing bacteriocin bacteria as additives.Lysozyme, also known as muramidase or N-acetylmuraglycan hydrolase, was found in the nasal mucus by British Fleming in 1922. Lysozyme is widely present in egg whites of birds, poultry, and mammals in tears, saliva, plasma, urine, milk, placenta, and body fluids, tissue cells, and is abundant in egg whites (about 3.5%).Due to the severe restrictions on the use of chemical preservatives, natural preservatives have become a hot research topic in the field of food preservatives. Many plant extracts can also be used as natural food preservatives, and it has been found that about 1000 plants contain antibacterial active compounds. Although plant extracts have been used as natural food preservatives for a long time, due to the complexity of natural extract components, the isolation, identification, antibacterial activity and mechanism of action of these plant-derived natural food preservatives still need to be extensively and deeply Research work.

Natural antioxidants. It is commonly taken from naturally edible substances such as vegetables, fruits, seasonings, Chinese herbal medicines and seaweed, agricultural and food industry scraps, and certain microbial fermentation products. Lipid oxidation in food is one of the main concerns of the food industryLipid oxidation not only produces an unpleasant rancid odor, but also reduces the nutritional value of the food, and it also poses a safety hazard. The addition of antioxidants to foods guarantees the quality of lipid foods and extends shelf life. Natural food antioxidants are widely favored for their safety.Studies have shown that many herbs and natural seasonings contain antioxidants and are a very good source of natural antioxidants such as rosemary, sage, thyme, ginger, summer herbs, black pepper, chili , cloves, basil, mint and spearmint. In recent years, consumers have become increasingly aware of the safety of food additives, and safe natural antioxidants have become the development direction of the field. As the food industry's demand for natural antioxidants is increasing, research on new high-efficiency and safe natural antioxidants is still being explored.