Firming agents are
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 f ...
s 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:
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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 skel ...
(E170)
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Calcium hydrogen sulfite (E227)
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Calcium citrates (E333)
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Calcium phosphates (E341)
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Calcium sulfate (E516)
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Calcium chloride (E509)
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Magnesium chloride (E511)
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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.
Magnesi ...
(E518)
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Calcium gluconate (E578)
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Magnesium gluconate (E580)
References
Food additives
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