Blog

Xanthan gum is odorless, odorless, non-toxic, safe to consume, and easily soluble in water. Presents polyanions in aqueous solutions with unique physicochemical properties. In industrial production, it is mainly used as a thickener, but can also be used as a suspension agent, emulsifier, and stabilizer. So far, xanthan gum is considered to be the most high-performance biopolymer internationally, widely used in industries such as food, juice, beverages, feed, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, firefighting, petroleum, etc. Its market growth potential exceeds that of all hydrophilic adhesives. This article reviews the structure, properties, and production of xanthan gum, and describes its application in the food industry.

1) Acid and salt resistant food thickening stabilizers
Applied in various fruit juice beverages, concentrated fruit juices, and condiments (such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, salad dressing) in food. The stability effect of xanthan gum is significantly better than other gums, and it has strong thermal stability. Generally, high-temperature sterilization has no effect on it, and it can be used in various fruit juice beverages, fruit pulp beverages, plant protein drinks, etc., with a dosage of 0.08-0.3. The excellent salt resistance, acid and alkaline resistance of xanthan gum can completely replace traditional thickeners such as starch in soy sauce, overcome the shortcomings of starch precipitation, and make soy sauce delicate and uniform, improve wall hanging and coloring properties, and extend shelf life. Flavored sauces such as jam and soy sauce are prepared using xanthan gum as a thickening and stabilizing agent to achieve a uniform body, good mixing ability, no clumping, easy filling, and improved taste.
2) Food emulsifiers
As an emulsifier, it can be used in various protein drinks and milk drinks to prevent oil-water stratification, improve protein stability and prevent protein precipitation. Its emulsifying ability can also be used as a foaming agent and foam stabilizer, such as in beer manufacturing. After adding 0.02% xanthan gum to the emulsifying system mainly composed of leguminous proteins, the emulsifying properties were significantly improved, and the mixed system exhibited high shear rates and heat induced high viscosity properties.
3) Food fillers
As a stable high viscosity filler, it can be widely used in the processing of various Dim sum, bread, biscuits, candy and other foods. Without changing the traditional flavor of food, it can make food have better shape retention, longer shelf life and better taste, which is conducive to the diversification and industrial scale production of these foods. In the production of various frozen foods, xanthan gum has the function of preventing dehydration, delaying aging, and extending shelf life.
4) Food emulsion stabilizer
As an emulsification stabilizer applied to frozen foods, xanthan gum can adjust the viscosity of mixtures in ice cream and ice cream, making it have a uniform and stable composition, smooth and soft tissue. Due to the plasticity and shear properties of xanthan gum viscosity and temperature, viscosity decreases and resistance decreases during processing, which is beneficial for the process. In the cooling and aging stage, viscosity recovery is beneficial for improving expansion rate, Prevent the formation of large ice crystals in ice cream tissue, making the ice cream taste smooth and delicate. At the same time, it improves the freeze-thaw stability of the product, and the cream and water are mixed evenly during melting, without causing slurry separation. The general aging time is 2-3 hours. The dosage ranges from 0.2% to 0.4%.
5) Food adhesive
Xanthan gum can crosslink some water-soluble powder substances, such as sodium alginate, casein, methyl cellulose, and polyethylene glycol cellulose sodium salt, to form an adhesive. This adhesive is used in food processing and can improve texture and increase film-forming properties. By utilizing the properties of xanthan gum, granular paste can be produced. Compared with traditional pastes, pastes made from xanthan gum have lower dispersibility, higher uniformity and solubility, better flowability and filling performance, and excellent solid retention due to their lack of cohesiveness.