Sugar Captured Flavor Granules

Sugar Captured Flavor Granules John A. Kitson 1 and Hiroshi S. Sug-isawa2 Low moisture foods of many types are becoming readily ailable in both retail and institutional size packages. The a~ducts now on the market are prepared by a great number of Patented processes most of ":,,hich are modifications of conven&onal hot air or vacuu~ drYlllg met~ods (Noyes,. 1~69). ~y use of the relatively e~penslve freeze .drymg proces~ lt IS posslble to retain a major portlOn of the volahles that contnbute much to the aroma and flavor of the reconstituted product. In drying pureed products such as applesauce or apricot puree in the food processing pilot plant at Summerland we have found it possible to make products of good color and texture by drom drying unsweetened purees to 2% moisture or less. A major disadyantage of drying fmit purees by this inexpensive method is the loss of water soluble yolatiles which occurs during the final stages of moisture reduction. For example we have found that applesauce loses 60-80% of the fruit 'Volatiles during a 25 seco drying cycIe at 150-155°C (302-311 °F) (Sugisawa et al., 1970). To overcome this loss of volatiles we haye developed a new process for fixing or locking water soluble fruit essences into a stable dry powder or granule form (Sugisawa, 1972; Sugisawa et al., 1970). Volatiles stripped from the puree before drying are concentrated and locked into the dry fonn. The powder containing less than 2% moisture is stable and aroma free when dry. It may be mixed with the dry puree to yield a product that, upon hydration, releases the fuIl aroma of the original pureed fruit. Significant advantages of the new product are the relatively high retention of added volatiles and the high fold strengths available. For example, approximately 75% of the added volatiles are retained in dry apple aroma powder of 200 fold strength. The aroma locking process comprises three steps; stripping aroma from freshly prepared puree by conventional methods concentrating the aroma in a two-stage process using ahnospheri~ ar;td vacuum aroma concentration columns, and encapsulating the hlgh strength aroma mixed with glycerin in a sugar polymer. . The fondant-like mix is vacuum dried to approximately 2% mOlsture and the resultant porous cake is ground to a powder. . The first step, stripping aroma from fruit puree, is accomphshed by cold milling the fruit with addition of ascorbic acid, if necessary, to retard enzymatic browning. Whole apples, for examp!e, a~e coarsely ground in a hammer milI with 250 ppm asco~blc aCld added as a 10% w /'11 solution during milling. By pa.sslllg the coarsely milIed pulp through a paddle finisher, seeds, S~IllS, and stems can be separated without significant loss of edible hssue. Puree prepared by this cold extraction method is heated to approximately 105°C (220°F) by pumping it through a tubular heat exchanger and a swept surface heat exchanger in tandem. Hot pulp is aIlowed to flash into a vapour liquid separator where 10~ of the volume is removed as vapor. The vapor containing the maJor portion of the volatiles is condensed in a plate heat exchanger. The stripped, partially concentrated puree is pumped to the feed hopper of a e!ouble drum e!rier for conversion into el ry flakes. The dilute aroma solution, approximately 10 fole! in strength, may be fed to an ahnospheric aroma concentration column of any standard e!esign. In the Summerlane! pilot plant we use a USDA e!eveloped column (MilIeville and Eskew, 1944). The overheae! fro m this column is approximately 150 fold strength ane! is usee! ~h~eed for a 10.16 cm (4") vacuum aroma concentration column. Is vacuum column is a scaled up version of the 2.54 cm (1") WURYAC column described by Bomben et al. (1969). The scalee! up Ulllt designee! by Agriculture Canae!a's Engineering Research 1 ~OOd Technologlst, Agrlculture Canada Research Statlon, ummerland, RC. 2 ~ofessor, Food Sclence Department, Kagawa Unlverslty, Q.agawa-ken, Japan. Can. Inst. Food Scl. Technol. J. Vol. 7, No. 1, 1974

Servke has a feed capacity of 16 l/h and is nonnally operated at 125 mm pressure. The final proe!uct is trapped in a series of four cole! traps located on the atmospheric pressure sie!e of the oil-Iess vacuum pump. Temperature in the first trap is maintainee! at _18°C (O°F) while in the remaining series the temperature is -75°C (-103°F). The whole column is continuously purged with a flow of nitrogen fed in at the reboiler. This serves to carry the aroma compoune!s, which are non-cone!ensable une!er vacuum, through the vacuum pump ane! on to the low temperature traps where they are coIlectee!. With this system we can routinely produce 30,000 fold aroma concentrates. The thire! step in the process involves preparation of a sugar polymer. The ingredient composition may be varied somewhat, however, a typical formuJation woule! consist of: 60% sucrose 30% glucose 3% maltodextrin 7% water The dry ingredients together with 40% of the water, are heatee! in an agitator equipped steam kettle to a temperature of 145°C (293°F). The mix is hele! at this temperature for 5 min to allow sugar polymers to formo The concentrated solution is then dilutee! with continuous stirring to 89.5-90.0% TSS by ae!dition of the remainder of the water which has been heatee! to 60°C (140°F). We have found that e!ilution of the molten polymer with hot water alJows better ane! more rapid mixing, ane! prevents the setting of the polymer into a hard crack candy. The sugar polymer prepared in this manner is a stable product which may be stored in bulk if e!esired. To prepare aroma powder the polymer is heated to 30°C (86°F) and 1% of the 25,000 fold aroma concentrate combined with 2-5 times its weight of glycerin is ade!ed with constant mixing. Glycerin serves, in this system, as a bine!ing agent ane! mutual solvent for polymer ane! aroma molecules preventing the volatilization of aromas that would otherwise occur during e!rying to low moisture contento As a final step the paste-like polymer containing lockee! in aroma is vacuum driee! at approximately 20°C (68°F). During the initial stages oE this drying step the air trapped in the polymer expands causing the material to foam and fonn a thick meringue-like cake. The dry cake containing 2% moisture is crushed and mixee! with 1.0-1.5% silica gel to help retain a free flowing producto Although the granules were originaIly intended for add-back to dmm e!ried apple, berry or stone fruit purees we believe they shoule! be useful in any dry product requiring a high strength natural water soluble aroma. An obvious immee!iate applic<.tion is in powderee! fruit-flavoree! e!rink mixes. Here the granules would probab!y be combined with powdered sugar, citric or malic acie! an:! food coloring. In summary, a new dry flavoring ingredient has been e!evelopee! which provie!es high strength, full, natural fruit f1avors in a water soluble base. The product retains aroma compounds in a non vo!atile fonn while e!ry but gives instant aroma release when wetted.

Réferences Bomben, J. L., Guadagnl. D. G. and Harrls, J. G. 1969. Aroma concentration for dehydrated fcocts. Food Tech. 23:83. Mllleville, H. P. and Eskew, R. R:. 1944. Recovery and utlllzatlon of natural apple flavors. U.S. Dept. Agrlc. A.I.C.-63. Noyes, R. 1969. Dehydratlon processes for convenlence fcods. Noyes Development Corporatlon, New York, N.Y. 367 p. 136-183. Sugisawa, H. S. 1972. Preservatlon of volatlle fcodstuff flavors. U.S. Patent No. 3,695,896 (Oct. 3, 1972). Suglsawa, H. S., Kltson, J. A. and Moyls, A. W. 1970. Dry powdered frult aromas for flavor enrichment In dry foods wlth low moisture contento Confructa, 15 :280. I:ecelved June 28, 1973

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