This episode of our “Basics of Food Gums” series explores plant derivative gums, focusing mostly on Cellulose. Learn more about the sources and uses of these common food ingredients by watching this episode or check our previous episodes below!
In this episode we’ll be looking at the category of food gums known as plant derivative in our first video we provided a little background on food gums as a whole if you’d like to watch that video for a quick introduction click the link in this video or in the description below to check it out plant derivatives is another category of gums which like some of the
Other gums we’ve discussed also has extensive history two specific examples from this category are pectin and cellulose these gums are extracted from various natural plant sources like trees fruit cotton and even vegetables like sugar beets their main uses tend to be for improving viscosity creating gels and adding or improving stabilization pectin is fairly
Recognizable to most people because it’s an ingredient that’s been in most family kitchens for generations it’s commonly used as a gelling agent for jams and jellies and has significant comfort level with most people pectin has a lengthy history dating back to the early 19th century becoming a more prominent ingredient in the market after the 1910s its natural
Ability to form gels and add texture has made it both a household name and a go-to ingredient in the food industry cellulose is another plant derivative that has incredible uses but unlike pectin isn’t as widely known it’s a substance that’s found in many plant-based organisms like vegetables cellulose is a component in the cell walls contained in most plants and
Vegetation but the concentration depends on the plant it’s mostly derived from wood and cotton which contain much higher percentages of cellulose for manufacturers to utilize the unique thing about cellulose gum is not only its variety of uses for the different forms of cellulose gum that can be obtained through adjustments in the extraction process you can create
Products like methyl cellulose cmc hb c or h pmc each with their own benefits this allows manufacturers to use cellulose come in a wide range for applications like syrups sauces beverages and even fried foods so what notable foods actually make use of cellulose gum one of the more common uses of cellulose gum is in bakery for example in tortilla the most important
Job of cellulose and tortillas is maintaining water retention preventing stickiness with other tortillas and equipment and preserving those rolling and folding characteristics not only that but it helps prevent stealing – all these benefits prove just how effective cellulose is in keeping the product consistent with what customers expect when they purchase and
Enjoy a tortilla so to wrap up in this episode we were able to touch on a new category of gums as well as look at the beneficial characteristics of cellulose one of the lesser-known plant derivative gums if you’d like to learn more then check out this book by andrew hoefler called our dacoits it’s a great overview of common hydrocolloids also there’s some online
Journals you can reference for additional research ving get technical but don’t let that stop you we hope you found this video helpful and perhaps presented a new perspective into the world of food science thanks for watching you
Transcribed from video
Cellulose – The Basics of Food Gums By Gum Guru