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Mild and Care Products
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Binder are proteins of vegetable or milk origin enhancing water binding properties and helping in binding together the different raw materials. They also contribute to fat emulsification..
Fillers are carbohydrate produces able to absorb water but they are not good emulsifiers. Common fillers used in meat processing include cereal flours and starches derived from rice, corn, potato and cassava, rusk, bread etc.
Extenders are non-meat materials added to increase the volume of the products. Extenders are mainly further processed flours turned into a product, which is often textured to resemble meat fibers.
Phosphates is increase the water-holding capacity by raising the pH. The most common phosphates are : Tetrasodium pyrophosphate pH 10.5, Sodium tripoly-phosphate (STPP) pH 9.8, Sodium di-phosphate (SDP) pH 7.3 and Sodium hexameta-phosphate pH 7.0
Starches bind water, stabilize the fat and reduce the costs of the processed product, but as the starch level increases the meat-like texture decreases.
Gums used in meat processing are carrageenan, carob bean gum, alginate (agar-agar), guar. They actively bind water but proved to be very expensive.
Common salt (sodium chloride) is main agent used in meat processing and contributes to basic taste characteristics of final product.
Nitrite is ability to inhibit Clostridium botulinum. The common commercial form, nitrite is added as, is the so-called nitrite curing salt , which is a mixture of 0.5-0.6% nitrite and 99.4-99.5% sodium chloride.
Sugar are added to meat products to counteract the salty taste, give flavor and reduce the aW which could be of certain interest for canned products.
Coloring agents is a very important attribute to determine the visual quality of processed meat products and subject to great changes during processing.
Natural spices are use a mixture of different seasonings as major flavoring agent and flavor enhancers in the processed products. Such as ginger, curcuma, cinnamon, sweet orange, lemon, capers, cloves, lavender, mace, saffron, tarragon, cumin, basil, celery, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley etc.