KEY INTERVIEW: Making the Most of Umami: Biorigin Creates the Perfect Sodium Alternative

08 Sep 2015

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08 Sept 2015 --- Created in 2003, Biorigin is a Brazilian company dedicated to the development of innovative sustainable solutions based on biotechnology for food and feed applications. Claudia Crepaldi Clara, Global Business Food Manager, spoke to FoodIngredientsFirst about how it plans to give food manfacturers a salt reduction alternative that maintains the flavor.

Biorigin is part of Zilor, a company with more than 65-years’ experience and listed as one of Brazil’s top 200 major corporate groups. Zilor transforms sugarcane in food and clean energy, respecting the environment and the communities where the company operates.

One of the major global food trends, says Crepaldi, is that of salt reduction, an area in which Biorigin excels, with its yeast fermentation products.

“As a global company, Biorigin follows the most important food trends. So the most important trend that we see is sodium reduction, in other words, how to keep the same flavour reducing considerably the salt content,” Crepaldi explains.

“From the yeast fermentation (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Biorigin offers a range of products which naturally bring out the original taste, providing body, mouthfeel and rounding off the taste of natural Umami of savoury foods, as well as ingredients to fulfill the demand for culinary savoury notes, bringing out the Umami effect and specific roasted taste, like chicken, beef and meat,” says Crepaldi.

“The PTX Food Corp acquisition in 2008 allowed Biorigin to incorporate the bacterial fermentation technology and could offer lines of natural flavor that contribute to the flavor profile, mouthfeel and salt perception with no sodium addition by providing an intense Umami effect,” she says.

The Bionis line of yeast extracts is the company’s most successful line, and brings out the taste and Umami profile naturally, offering a wide range of products covering different demands: as standard, no salt, premium, Umami, dark savoury notes and could be used as nutrient in industrial and media fermentation. So Bionis could be applied for basic savory profile, Umami and roasted taste notes, and sodium reduction applications, as well as to provide more body and mouthfeel.

Although both yeast extracts and natural flavors lines Bionis and Bioenhance have salt reduction capabilities, it is possible to get best results when work the products in synergy. Using yeast extract in synergy with natural flavor brings out the Umami taste and permits the sodium reduction by 70% in some typical savory application like snacks, 40% in broths and 25-30% in meat without compromising the final food taste.

“We are totally aligned with this trend and our ingredients can reduce between 20% - 70% of the sodium in different types of foods.”

On a more local level, Crepaldi says that the health revolution in South America is starting, albeit in a different intensity than when compared with places like Europe and United States.

“In South America the Health Organizations are creating new rules to reduce the sodium content in some foods and people are a little bit more concerned with health and quality of life,” she says.

The economic and social aspects in South America also have a big influence in the advance of the health trends. Only part of the population is willing to pay more to have more healthy products, like clean label, organic or with sodium and sugar reduction.

Biorigin is most active in Europe and United States, but it does have a good business in South America. Trends do cross borders quickly, so generally the trends remain the same globally, unless they are affected by economic or social factors.

Biorigin has launched two new products this year. BioSavour, natural flavor developed to fulfill the demand for mild, clean flavor delivery and enhancement that is a health answer that allows food processors to reduce sodium (BioSavour increases the up-front salty perception of sodium reduction applications), to deliver Umami and to enhance specific flavor notes like meaty mild brown, roasted and broth.

The second launch is Biogard D, a natural flavor produced by the culturing of whey with food grade, non-GMO dairy cultures that deliver clean, label-friendly cultured dairy notes that are normally associated with aged cheeses.

As well as an active acquisition strategy, the company is expanding with new facilities. “Recently we started the new expansion plan of our unit located in Quatá, Brazil, aiming at improving our yeast extract production capacity,” explains Crepaldi. “This investment will allow us to continue our process of sustainable growth in the market of food and also in feed ingredients, as well as to innovate in products and services, as we have done during the last 10 years,” says Crepaldi.

“With an investment of around U$120 million, this expansion initiative was brought about by positive market perspectives and by health and wellness market trends of an increasing search for natural ingredients. Moreover, we have a production model that allows the traceability of the ingredients applied. In addition, we use renewable energy sources that supply the requirements of sustainability,” Crepaldi concludes.

As salt reduction becomes more of an issue, Biorigin is perfectly placed to give food manufacturers that further area of choice that may not mean compromising on taste or cost.

By Kelly Worgan