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Tag: dairy alternatives

June 2, 2020
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Fiberstar Blog

Natural Ice Cream using Citrus Fiber

Citri-Fi® citrus fiber provides water holding and emulsification properties that benefit natural ice cream. This ice cream ingredient replaces chemical emulsifiers and stabilizers which shortens and cleans up food labeling. Moreover, Citri-Fi minimizes ice crystallization during storage. As a result, frozen desserts using citrus fiber maintain a smooth texture and full body. 

Ice cream is one of those foods that puts a smile on anyone's face around the world. Since its invention, this frozen dessert turned into many shapes, forms, flavors and textures. And thru the years, mass production, storage and shipping allowed many smiling faces around the world to enjoy this treat. However, today, consumers in some parts check labels before dipping the spoon. As a result, ice cream manufacturers gravitate toward clean label ingredients to create more natural ice creams. Yet, is this possible if chemical emulsifiers and stabilizers were originally used to create ice cream more tolerable to transport, handling and storage conditions?

Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber in Natural Ice Cream 

To clean up food labeling declarations, manufacturers seek out natural ice cream ingredients that provide functionality. For instance, Citri-Fi citrus fiber provides high water holding and emulsification properties that create high quality frozen desserts like ice cream. As a matter of fact, this natural citrus fiber creates clean label ice creams by replacing chemical emulsifiers and/or stabilizers. Because of this, labeling contains a shorter and simpler statement. At low usage levels (0.3% to 1.0%), Citri-Fi 100M40 is easily added to the dry ingredients and mixed first.

Other Key Benefits in Natural Frozen Desserts

Citri-Fi also controls the ice crystal growth to prevent grainy textures. As a result, during storage, the ice cream maintains the full body and creamy mouthfeel without the ice crystals. Because of the freeze/thaw stability, this natural ice cream ingredient creates high quality frozen products over shelf life. In addition, depending on some formulations, Citri-Fi also reduces melt time.

Lastly, Citri-Fi also performs well in dairy-free ice creams or vegan frozen desserts. Since this natural citrus fiber binds water to control water migration, Citri-Fi maintains the smooth texture of dairy-free ice creams over storage time.

Additional Information 

 

BLOG: Top Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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May 19, 2020
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Fiberstar Blog

How to Add Citri-Fi® Citrus Fiber to Foods

Citri-Fi® citrus fiber improves texture, labeling, stability and nutrition of various food products. However, to use this natural citrus fiber in foods, it needs to be hydrated correctly to activate the full functionality. As a result, these four easy methods minimize dispersion issues that may arise when adding this natural ingredient. 

Before diving into how to use citrus fiber in foods, let us review why you need to use Citri-Fi in the first place. Citri-Fi citrus fiber uses a process free from chemical modifications. The mechanical process opens up the fiber to provide high water holding and emulsification properties. As a result, when used at low levels (<1%), citrus fiber contributes multiple benefits to a variety of food products such as meats, bakery, beverages, sauces, dairy and frozen foods. Also, this natural ingredient improves hot trending products like dairy and meat alternatives. In the end, Citri-Fi citrus fiber should be your "go-to" natural ingredient to improve stability while cleaning up labels and enhancing nutrition.

Depending on the product, this healthy food ingredient provides various benefits. For instance, this food emulsifier binds water and oil which improves the stability of dairy, beverages, sauces, dressings and dairy alternatives. Additionally, Citri-Fi holds onto water to increase yields and improve juiciness and texture of meats and meat substitution products. Because this natural citrus fiber provides multiple functionalities, it replaces ingredients like starches, gums and other stabilizers to clean up food product labels.

Now that you joined the loyal citrus fiber club, let us talk about how to use it in food products successfully. Although your first urge will be to sprinkle Citri-Fi like pixie dust, proper hydration is key! In the end, properly hydrating Citri-Fi activates the full functionality of this citrus fiber.

How to Use Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber in Foods 

There are four main ways to use this natural hydrocolloid in foods to prevent clumping or "fish eyes".

1. Pre-mixed in Dry Ingredients

One option includes pre-mixing Citri-Fi citrus fiber with dry ingredients such as sugar, salt, flour, etc. depending on the food product. The dry ingredients should be approximately 10 times the weight of Citri-Fi. Moreover, foods that benefit include bakery items, seasoning mixes and processed meats.

2. Dispersed in Oil 

Another way to incorporate this natural food emulsifier is in oil. For instance, Citri-Fi can be mixed into an oil before being added to the food product or liquid. On the other hand, this natural emulsifier when mixed with a certain ratio of oil turns liquids into free-flowing powders As a result, this plated citrus fiber improves the handling and usability of the product. And as a bonus, when added to water or other food products, this plated material provides additional functionalities. For example, plated Citri-Fi provides stability and mouthfeel in beverages.

3. Dispersed into Syrups

Also, Citri-Fi can be added into syrups like sugar or glucose.

4. Prehydrated Directly in Water

Though we recommend adding Citri-Fi to dry ingredients before hydrating in water, you do have the option to prehydrate directly in water. However, in order to use this method, you need to add Citri-Fi in 3% or less solutions. In addition, this natural food ingredient needs to be added using strong agitation to avoid clumping and "fish eyes". Some recommended agitation options include blender, rotor stator homogenizer, mechanical mixer or a magnetic stirrer.

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March 23, 2020
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Fiberstar Blog

Top 7 FAQ about Citrus Fiber in Plant-based Milks

Citri-Fi® citrus fiber improves mouthfeel and stability in different types of plant-based milks. At low usage levels, 0.2% to 0.4%, this clean label citrus fiber creates high quality plant milk. To learn more, Fiberstar compiled a list of FAQ about citrus fiber in plant-based milks.

Vegan milks may differ in the plant bases, yet, they all possess similar textural goals. As a matter of fact, they all strive to provide consumers a wonderful mouthfeel and stability over time. One ingredient that offers these desired benefits is Citri-Fi citrus fiber. Because of this, Fiberstar works closely with plant-based milk manufacturers from bench top to commercialization to understand the science behind the benefits. And for that reason, the team compiled the following frequently asked questions (FAQ) about citrus fiber in plant-based milks.

Top 7 Questions about Citrus Fiber in Plant-based Milks

1. What Benefits Does Citrus Fiber Provide Plant Milks?

Citrus fiber, such as Citri-Fi, improves the creamy and full body mouthfeel and stability of the beverage over time. Due to Citri-Fi's high water holding and emulsification properties, this natural ingredient binds water and oil to improve the stability especially during harsh processing conditions. And, because this citrus fiber opens up in shear conditions, its high surface area also increases the viscosity of the drink. To learn more, please check out the Fiberstar Video Library.

2.  Which Type of Citri-Fi is Recommended and at What Dosage or Usage Level? 

Citri-Fi 100FG or Citri-Fi 100M40 dosage level ranges between 0.2% to 0.4%. However, increasing the usage level does not create better stability. Because this citrus fiber provides high functionality, lower levels deliver all the textural and stability benefits.

3.  How is Citri-Fi Labeled?

Citri-Fi labeling options include citrus fiber, dried citrus pulp or citrus flour. In parts of Europe, other labeling options include citrus fibre or plant fibre from citrus fruits. These labeling options resonate well in the clean label and natural markets.

4. Is Citri-Fi Heat Stable? 

Yes, Citri-Fi citrus fiber is heat stable. For instance, Citri-Fi remains stable even through ultra high temperature (UHT) processing.

5. Can Citri-Fi Replace Gums in Non-dairy Beverages? 

Yes, in most cases, Citri-Fi citrus fiber replaces gums in different types of plant-based milks. For example, to replace gellan gum,  add 0.3% of Citri-Fi 100FG before the homogenization step. Other additives citrus fiber replaces include locust bean gum, guar gum and/or modified starch.

6. How Does Citri-Fi Compared to Gellan Gum, MCC or other Hydrocolloids and Emulsifiers Currently Used in a Different Types of Plant-based Milks? 

When using Citri-Fi citrus fiber instead of the latter, the citrus fiber creates a more natural mouthfeel and less sticky texture.

7. To Create Stable Plant Drinks, can Citri-Fi be Used Alone or Does this Citrus Fiber Need to be Used with Other Stabilizing Food Ingredients? 

Citri-Fi citrus fiber creates high quality plant-based milks when used alone. Some exceptions include when other ingredients are used such as fine cocoa particles which tend to settle over time. Depending on the formulation, Citri-Fi provides some suspension to create that stability.

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