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Isomalt, Inulin and Oligofructose - Towards healthier bakery products
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Christian Philippsen
April 27 , 2015
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Baked goods like breads, cakes and pastries, are continuing to be
popular with consumers. Baked goods sales worldwide grew from 139 to 141
million tonne from 2008 to 2013. In Asia-Pacific, pastries and cakes
sales are particularly successful, achieving 76 per cent of volume
growth between 2008 and 2013.
Nevertheless, there are clear signs
that Asia-Pacific consumers are making a conscious effort to eat
healthier. Consumers, with easy access to information on nutrition and
food science in the current Internet age are making better informed
decisions than ever before when it comes to food choices. These days,
consumers want their baked foods to not just taste good, but also to
come packed with nutritional benefits.
In this article, we take a
look at how food manufacturers can simultaneously cater to consumers’
demands in taste, texture and nutrition, while developing a product for
consumers who are more health-conscious, through a new breed of
functional ingredients.
Reducing or replacing sugar
According
to a recent decision by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the sugar
consumption of adults and children should be significantly reduced to
less than 10 per cent of the daily energy intake. Studies have linked
high consumption of sugar over time to diabetes, obesity and many other
health problems. Sugar is a common ingredient in baked goods such as
cakes, muffins and pastries. In order to offer healthier alternatives,
manufacturers are looking for ingredients that help to reduce or replace
sugar without compromising on the taste and texture of their baked
goods.
Baked goods manufacturers can replace sugar entirely or
partly with functional ingredients like Beneo’s Isomalt. The only sugar
replacer derived from pure sugar beet, Isomalt has a sugar-like taste
with about 50 per cent of its sweetness. It replaces sugar in a 1:1
ratio, is low glycaemic in nature and low in calorie (2 kcal/g). When
used in baked goods, Isomalt provides the same taste, body, colour, pore
size distribution and fluff consistency as if sugar were used.
Isomalt
provides food manufacturers with the opportunity to tap into the
increasing demand consumers have for ‘health and wellbeing’ products by
facilitating claims such as “no added sugar” or “reduced calories.” As
consumers look to combine their taste for treats with an increasing
focus on healthy living, bakery products with Isomalt give manufacturers
the chance to distinguish themselves from the competition.
Also,
chicory root fibre Oligofructose is well suited for the use in sweet
baked goods. Its sensory profile is very similar to that of sucrose.
Oligofructose has a mild sweet taste and up to 65 per cent sweetening
power of sucrose. By adding intense sweeteners such as sucralose,
aspartame, or acesulfame K, the sugar content of baked goods can be
reduced without adverse effects on sweetening power.
Moreover,
Oligofructose masks the aftertaste of many sweeteners, allowing a
well-balanced sweetening profile to be obtained. Comparable in form to
sucrose, it ensures sweetness as well as bulk and texture. Additionally,
Oligofructose does not crystallise and has a higher solubility than
sucrose. If sucrose is partially replaced by Oligofructose in a recipe,
the amount of water added to the dough may be adjusted in order to yield
the desired dough viscosity and volume.
Packing in the fibre
While
consumers try to increase their fibre consumption, many of them turn to
foods such as biscuits, cereals and cereal bars as a source of
fibre-enrichment. Dietary fibres are thus, a perfect fit for baked
goods.
As soluble dietary fibres, Orafti Inulin and Oligofructose
can be used to enrich the fibre content of baked goods without altering
the product’s taste or texture. With just three to six per cent Inulin
in a recipe for example, industrial and artisan bakeries can produce
fibre-enriched products and in turn, offer consumers real added value.
Besides nutritional benefits, Inulin also offers technological
advantages for baked goods. Dietary fibre influence on the sensory
profile of the end-product is crucial: Orafti HPX is neutral in taste
and can be added in larger quantities if desired.
This is
especially advantageous for the production of baked goods that are very
high in fibre. Being prebiotic Inulin and Oligofructose also help
improve the balance of the intestinal flora by stimulating beneficial
bifidobacteria growth – an important element of good digestive health.
Based on a 13.5 health claim application, the company has gained a
positive EFSA evaluation for its prebiotic fibre inulin in improving the
effect on bowel function in January 2015. Additionally, Oligofructose
and Inulin can also be used as calorie-reducing ingredients as they have
a scientific caloric value of only 1.5 kcal/g instead of the 4 kcal/g
of sucrose.
Furthermore, Isomalt, Inulin and Oligofructose can
help to reduce the glycaemic response of final products. The European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) gave positive opinions for the blood
glucose lowering properties of Oligofructose and Inulin, as well as for
Isomalt with corresponding health claim approvals in the Annex of the
Regulation 432/2012.
Breaking baking tradition
Baked goods
with improved nutritional profiles will see growing importance as
consumers increasingly choose healthier foods and authorities likely to
push for sugar reduction in final products. Manufacturers are well set
to start thinking about alternatives in creating healthier versions of
their baked products. Naturally-derived functional ingredients allow
baked goods manufacturers to be creative and innovative, as they push
the boundaries of product concepts and baking processes to meet the high
expectations of today’s consumers.
(The author is MD, Beneo Asia Pacific)
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