Cerestar boosted with new pectins range

Pectin is a natural hydrocolloid that is extracted primarily from citrus peels, such as lemons, limes or oranges. It provides unique texturising and stabilising benefits and enhances the overall "mouth feel."

Cargill Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties has now fully incorporated pectin into their product portfolio following the recent announcement of the acquisition of German based pectins company Citrico.

This move will strengthen the company's existing texturising ingredient portfolio and facilitate the creation of value and growth for customers.  Cargill and Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties had not previously supplied pectin.
 
Pectin is a natural hydrocolloid that is extracted primarily from citrus peels, such as lemons, limes or oranges.  It provides unique texturising and stabilising benefits and enhances the overall "mouth feel" of food and beverages.  It is used widely in a variety of applications, including fruit processing, confectionery, bakery, dairy and non-carbonated beverages.
 
In fillings for bakery applications, pectin is used to great effect in the making of preserves, jams and jellies. Pectin is the natural way to make a jelly set – when a fruit is boiled up with sugar the natural pectin in the fruit will be released and thicken or set the product. In industrial jam making, new ingredients such as Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties’ pectin can play an important role in compensating for deficiencies within fruit but also in systems (such as low sugar jams) where the natural pectin is not enough to set a product.
 
Mark Wastijn, marketing director of Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties says: “The addition of pectin to our portfolio means we are in a strong position to offer our customers a unique range of texturising solutions. In bakery applications pectins have special properties which make it ideally suited for this market.”
 
In confectionery, pectin is ideal for use in gums, pastilles and jellies offering a short but tender texture which quickly breaks down in the mouth. Typical examples of such sweets include flavoured jellies like Turkish delights, chocolate-coated jellies and fruit slices. When combined with gelatine, pectin can be used in aerated confections (such as marshmallows) where pectin is used to set the product and improve shape retention.
 
Pectin is a versatile and popular ingredients as it is resistant to thermal degradation it has excellent humectant properties and a long shelf life, it is compatible with other hydrocolloids and other ingredients which result in many different textures – adding to its versatility as an ingredient.

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