Firming Agent
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Firming Agent
Firming agents are food additives added in order to precipitate residual pectin, thus strengthening the structure of the food and preventing its collapse during processing. These are salts, typically lactates or phosphates, calcium salts or aluminum sulfates. They are mainly used for (fresh) fruit and vegetables. For example, in the case of fruit sold cut into wedges, the pulp can be sprayed with a solution of the respective salt. They are salts that react with an ingredient in the product, such as the pectin in the fruit. Typical firming agents are: * Calcium carbonate (E170) * Calcium hydrogen sulfite (E227) * Calcium citrates (E333) * Calcium phosphates (E341) * Calcium sulfate (E516) * Calcium chloride (E509) * Magnesium chloride (E511) * Magnesium sulfate Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula , consisting of magnesium cations (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions . It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in ...
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Food Additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives, such as vinegar ( pickling), salt ( salting), smoke ( smoking) and sugar ( crystallization), have been used for centuries to preserve food. This allows for longer-lasting foods, such as bacon, sweets, and wines. With the advent of ultra-processed foods in the late 20th century, many additives having both natural and artificial origin were introduced. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly (called "indirect additives") in the manufacturing process through packaging, storage or transport. In Europe and internationally, many additives are designated with E numbers, while in the United States, additives in amounts deemed safe for human consumption are designated as GRAS. Identification To regulate these additives and inform consumers each additive is assigned a unique number called an "E number", whi ...
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Precipitation (chemistry)
In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the "sedimentation of a solid material (a precipitate) from a liquid solution". The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading to precipitation, the chemical reagent causing the solid to form is called the precipitant. The clear liquid remaining above the precipitated or the centrifuged solid phase is also called the supernate or supernatant. The notion of precipitation can also be extended to other domains of chemistry (organic chemistry and biochemistry) and even be applied to the solid phases (e.g. metallurgy and alloys) when solid impurities segregation (materials science), segregate from a solid phase. Supersaturation The precipitation of a compound may occur when its concentration exceeds its solubility. This can be due to temperature changes, solvent evaporation, or by mixing solvents. Precipitation occurs more rapidly from a strongly supersaturated solution. The formation of a pr ...
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Pectin
Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galacturonic acid (a sugar acid derived from galactose) which was isolated and described by Henri Braconnot in 1825. Commercially produced pectin is a white-to-light-brown powder, produced from citrus fruits for use as an edible gelling agent, especially in jams and jellies, dessert fillings, medications, and sweets; as a food stabiliser in fruit juices and milk drinks, and as a source of dietary fiber. Biology Pectin is composed of complex polysaccharides that are present in the primary cell walls of a plant, and are abundant in the green parts of terrestrial plants. Pectin is the principal component of the middle lamella, where it binds cells. Pectin is deposited by exocytosis into the cell wall via vesicles produced in the Golgi appara ...
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Calcium Carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skeletons and pearls. Materials containing much calcium carbonate or resembling it are described as calcareous. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime and is produced when calcium ions in hard water react with carbonate ions to form limescale. It has medical use as a calcium supplement or as an antacid, but excessive consumption can be hazardous and cause hypercalcemia and digestive issues. Chemistry Calcium carbonate shares the typical properties of other carbonates. Notably, it: *reacts with acids, releasing carbonic acid which quickly disintegrates into carbon dioxide and water: : *releases carbon dioxide upon heating, called a thermal decomposition reaction, or calcination (to above 840 Â°C in the case of ), t ...
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Calcium Hydrogen Sulfite
Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust, and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium. The most common calcium compound on Earth is calcium carbonate, found in limestone and the fossils of early sea life; gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite are also sources of calcium. The name comes from Latin ''calx'' "lime", which was obtained from heating limestone. Some calcium compounds were known to the ancients, though their chemistry was unknown until the seventeenth century. Pure calcium was isolated in 1808 via electrolysis of its oxide by Humphry Davy, who named the element. Calcium compounds are widely used in many industries: in foods and pharmaceuticals for calcium ...
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Calcium Citrate
Calcium citrate is the calcium salt of citric acid. It is commonly used as a food additive ( E333), usually as a preservative, but sometimes for flavor. In this sense, it is similar to sodium citrate. Calcium citrate is also found in some dietary calcium supplements (e.g. Citracal or Caltrate). Calcium makes up 24.1% of calcium citrate (anhydrous) and 21.1% of calcium citrate (tetrahydrate) by mass. The tetrahydrate occurs in nature as the mineral Earlandite. Chemical properties Calcium citrate is sparingly soluble in water. Needle-shaped crystals of tricalcium dicitrate tetrahydrate a3(C6H5O7)2(H2O)2·2H2O were obtained by hydrothermal synthesis. The crystal structure comprises a three-dimensional network in which eightfold coordinated Ca2+ cations are linked by citrate anions and hydrogen bonds between two non-coordinating crystal water molecules and two coordinating water molecules. Production Calcium citrate is an intermediate in the isolation of citric acid from t ...
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Calcium Phosphate
The term calcium phosphate refers to a family of materials and minerals containing calcium ions (Ca2+) together with inorganic phosphate anions. Some so-called calcium phosphates contain oxide and hydroxide as well. Calcium phosphates are white solids of nutritional value and are found in many living organisms, e.g., bone mineral and tooth enamel. In milk, it exists in a colloidal form in micelles bound to casein protein with magnesium, zinc, and citrate–collectively referred to as colloidal calcium phosphate (CCP). Various calcium phosphate minerals, which often are not white owing to impurities, are used in the production of phosphoric acid and fertilizers. Overuse of certain forms of calcium phosphate can lead to nutrient-containing surface runoff and subsequent adverse effects upon receiving waters such as algal blooms and eutrophication (over-enrichment with nutrients and minerals). Orthophosphates, di- and monohydrogen phosphates These materials contain Ca2+ combin ...
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Calcium Sulfate
Calcium sulfate (or calcium sulphate) is an inorganic salt with the chemical formula . It occurs in several hydrated forms; the anhydrous state (known as anhydrite) is a white crystalline solid often found in evaporite deposits. Its dihydrate form is the mineral gypsum, which may be dehydrated to produce bassanite, the hemihydrate state. Gypsum occurs in nature as crystals ( selenite) or fibrous masses ( satin spar), typically colorless to white, though impurities can impart other hues. All forms of calcium sulfate are sparingly soluble in waterFranz Wirsching "Calcium Sulfate" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2012 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. and cause permanent hardness when dissolved therein. Hydration states Calcium sulfate occurs at three levels of hydration with different crystallographic structures: anhydrous, dihydrate, and hemihydrate. The anhydrous ( anhydrite) crystallizes as an tightly-bound orthohombic lattice with space group Pnma, in which each ...
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Calcium Chloride
Calcium chloride is an inorganic compound, a Salt (chemistry), salt with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature, and it is highly soluble in water. It can be created by neutralising hydrochloric acid with calcium hydroxide. Calcium chloride is commonly encountered as a Water of crystallization, hydrated solid with generic formula , where ''n'' = 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6. These compounds are mainly used for de-icing and dust control. Because the anhydrous salt is Hygroscopic, hygroscopic and deliquescent, it is used as a desiccant.Robert Kemp, Suzanne E. Keegan "Calcium Chloride" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2000, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. History Calcium chloride was apparently discovered in the 15th century but wasn't studied properly until the 18th century. It was historically called "fixed Salammoniac, sal ammoniac" () because it was synthesized during the distillation of ammonium chloride with lime and was nonvolatile (while ...
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Magnesium Chloride
Magnesium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' can range from 1 to 12. These salts are colorless or white solids that are highly soluble in water. These compounds and their solutions, both of which occur in nature, have a variety of practical uses. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is the principal precursor to magnesium metal, which is produced on a large scale. Hydrated magnesium chloride is the form most readily available. Production Magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water. In North America and South America, it is obtained primarily from Great Salt Lake brine. In the Jordan Valley, it is obtained from the Dead Sea. The mineral bischofite () is extracted (by solution mining) out of ancient seabeds, for example, the Zechstein seabed in northwest Europe. Some deposits result from high content of magnesium chloride in the primordial ocean. Some magnesium chloride is made from evaporation of seawater. In the Do ...
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Magnesium Sulfate
Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula , consisting of magnesium cations (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions . It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in water but not in ethanol. Magnesium sulfate is usually encountered in the form of a hydrate , for various values of ''n'' between 1 and 11. The most common is the heptahydrate , known as Epsom salt, which is a household chemical with many traditional uses, including bath salts. The main use of magnesium sulfate is in agriculture, to correct soils deficient in magnesium (an essential plant nutrient because of the role of magnesium in chlorophyll and photosynthesis). The monohydrate is favored for this use; by the mid 1970s, its production was 2.3 million tons per year. The anhydrous form and several hydrates occur in nature as minerals, and the salt is a significant component of the water from some springs. Hydrates Magnesium sulfate can crystallize as several hy ...
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Calcium Gluconate
Calcium gluconate is the calcium salt of gluconic acid and is used as a mineral supplement and medication. As a medication it is used by injection into a vein to treat low blood calcium, high blood potassium, and magnesium toxicity. Supplementation is generally only required when there is not enough calcium in the diet. Supplementation may be done to treat or prevent osteoporosis or rickets. It can also be taken by mouth but is not recommended for injection into a muscle. Side effects when injected include slow heart rate, pain at the site of injection, and low blood pressure. When taken by mouth side effects may include constipation and nausea. Blood calcium levels should be measured when used and extra care should be taken in those with a history of kidney stones. At normal doses, use is regarded as safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Calcium gluconate is made by mixing gluconic acid with calcium carbonate or calcium hydroxide. Calcium gluconate came into medical use ...
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