The instant food market is booming and is expected to have a bright future for both, consumers and manufacturers. Instant foods are time-saving, cost-effective, and easy to make. Such foods also give a sensory experience that’s similar to the original source. Bake mixes, infant formula, protein shakes, instant cocoa beverages etc., are all prime examples of popular instant foods.
Instant foods usually refer to ‘powders with modified functional properties’ that can be reconstituted with the addition of liquids like water or milk. They disperse and dissolve in these liquids easily, offering instantaneous convenience to consumers.
To reach a quality standard that exactly matches the reference products, manufacturers add lecithin to instant powders. Since it adds wettability, solubility, and stability, it keeps the integrity of instant powders intact.
The Functions of Lecithin in Instant Food
Low dispersibility is a prevailing problem in the instant food industry. Because many ingredients in the product have fibre, protein, minerals, and vitamins, their dispersibility in milk and cold water or any other dissolving liquid remains an issue.
As fat is hydrophobic, instant powders with high-fat content present the same problem. Clumping is another problem with instant powders that are rich in protein as they absorb excess moisture from the environment. This happens due to the protein being hydrophilic in nature. In simple terms, protein attracts water.
Lecithin is the solution to all these problems. Its natural amphiphilic properties—it’s both lipophilic and hydrophilic—add emulsification functionality to instant powders.
For example, in powders with a dominant fat presence, the lipophilic end of lecithin helps bind it with water for efficient dispersibility. Adding dispersibility or solubility is lecithin’s main function in instant foods.
Benefits of Lecithin in Instant Food
Its emulsification functionality isn’t the only reason behind the addition of lecithin in instant foods. There is also a list of benefits it provides. Here’s a quick look at most of them:
Reconstitution
Liquid penetration into the powder, the sinking of the powder particles, their dispersion, and dissolution are the four reconstitution parameters. This reconstitution is achieved by uniformly spraying liquid lecithin on powdered particles.
Once added, lecithin efficiently increases particle dispersion in various ways, giving it good solubility. It lowers the surface tension between the powder and the liquid, allowing it to dissolve and spread uniformly. Even allowing fatty granules to dissolve easily in cold liquids.
Wettability
Lecithin adds a tiny layer over individual powder particles that enhances their wettability. It becomes visible when powders are combined with liquids such as water or milk.
Particularly, soy lecithin's ability to promote the blending of ingredients makes it a great wetting agent allowing the mixing of instant powders in a liquid, resulting in a smooth and stable final product. It also helps increase the lubrication of fats and oils through a similar process adding to their blending efficiency.
While making an instant rice pudding, for instance, liquid ingredients must be mixed with dry ingredients. Soy lecithin allows these ingredients to blend together more easily, even giving the final product a smooth texture.
Antioxidant
The antioxidant properties of lecithin can considerably impact radical permeability through the interface of an oil-in-water powder mix as well as the rate of oxidation of instant food items. Lecithin has a strong antioxidant capacity that decreases the rate of peroxyl radical permeability in stabilised emulsions.
The higher antioxidant activity also greatly reduces the rate of radical penetration and the rate of oxidation of components in oil-in-water emulsion systems. This, ultimately, increases the shelf life of fat-rich powders.
Separating Agent
When contacting the surface, powdered particles cause product loss, requiring higher rework, and increased cleaning downtime for producers. Using vegetable oils or other releasing agents typically doesn’t deliver the expected results either.
In fact, the extra oil added to achieve better yield frequently counteracts, contributing to the addition of unwanted empty calories to the product. Not to mention, the oily shine it leaves on the surface.
Lecithin, on the other hand, forms an even, non-stick coating on the food-contact surface due to its dual, hydrophilic and lipophilic nature.
Flavour Protectant
Taste retention is another benefit that adding lecithin provides to instant foods. It has the ability to envelop oil droplets in a double layer of phosphatidylcholine, which encapsulates and transfers flavours, keeping their intensity intact in the end product, even if they are low-fat.
Lecithin enhances the overall texture and mouth feel of the products by giving them a richer feeling. It also keeps the rancid flavours at bay thanks to its oxidative stress on fat-rich products. That’s why lecithin is considered a multipurpose additive and not just an emulsifier.
Conclusion
The growing modifications in natural food sources and the rising demand for instant foods have generated a need for ingredients that improve a product’s functionality without compromising its quality.
Enter lecithin, a safe multi-purpose emulsifier with wide applications like wettability, dispersibility, surface tension control, and flavour retention.
Using a single additive that performs various functions and preserves the quality of the final product is cost-effective. Lecithin spray and brush applications are usually applied to powdered drinks, gravy mixes, milk powders, infant formulas, soup mixes, and whatnot, without affecting their palatability.
Soy lecithin is on a commercial scale for this purpose. However, the growing concerns around its GMO status and the presence of allergens have made sunflower lecithin a go-to alternative. While offering all the functionality and benefits of soy lecithin, sunflower lecithin carries none of its vices.
Regardless of which type of plant-based lecithin you use in the manufacturing of your products, LECITEIN can partner with you to provide a sustainable lecithin solution anywhere in the world. For more details, connect with.