Latte art: Wacker’s new starch-based powder stabilizes foaming of barista toppings

24 Nov 2020 --- Previously spotlighted as a functional egg replacement in baked goods, Wacker’s Cavamax W6 alpha-cyclodextrin has now been found to improve the foaming properties of barista toppings. The starch ingredient targets coffee specialties including cappuccino, latte macchiato and café au lait.

Featured at the ongoing Fi Europe Connect virtual tradeshow, Cavamax W6 is a water-soluble, odorless and tasteless powder that is touted for its ease of use. With the ingredient, dairy and plant-based toppings can feature a high foam volume, uniform structure and long-lasting stability.

Crafting the perfect froth
Coffee specialties served with a froth of milk are extremely popular among global consumers.

“In fact, preparing the frothy crown has become an art in itself – ‘latte art,’” Heiko Zipp, director of the Nutrition Business Team at Wacker, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“This is the technique used by baristas – professionals skilled in coffee making – to create individual images in the milk foam. That’s why it’s called the ‘barista’ trend.”

A common formulation challenge consists in creating a fine, homogeneous foam with a high volume and long-term stability.

While research aimed at understanding and optimizing the corresponding mechanisms in dairy foams has a long history, increasing demand for vegan diets requires plant-based toppings to exhibit these same properties.

Previously known for its properties as an egg replacement solution, Wacker’s Cavamax W6 provides a diverse range of properties that greatly enhance the foaming of milk or plant-based milk alternatives.

A unique oligosaccharide
As starch fermentation products, cyclodextrins from Wacker are produced from renewable raw materials.

A common formulation challenge consists in creating a fine, homogeneous foam with a high volume and long-term stability.These are cyclic oligosaccharides, based on glucose units and are differentiated into alpha-, beta- and gamma-cyclodextrin, depending on the size of the oligosaccharide ring.

The ring-shaped oligosaccharide has a hydrophilic or water-loving exterior and a lipophilic or fat-loving cavity. This enables Cavamax W6 to provide a uniform foam structure and long-term stability for toppings.

“This cavity can interact with lipophilic components of the barista milk, and form particulate complexes, which stabilize the foam structure and limit the coalescence of the liquid phase. explains Ulrike Fischer-Nägele, head of technical service in the Nutrition Business Team at Wacker.

“The foam half-life – the time until the foam has shrunk to half its volume – can be significantly increased from three to about 15 minutes by the addition of Cavamax W6.”

“Cavamax improves the foam properties of various toppings, either for dairy or plant-based milks or for powder products, which are reconstituted with water before use,” explains Fischer-Nägele.

It can be used to satisfy the demand for vegan coffee specialties. As the “Plant-Forward” trend gathers pace, more consumers are turning to milk substitutes such as soya or almond drinks.

In the US alone, demand for these is growing by ten percent annually, Wacker highlights.

Applications in baked goods
Cavamax W6 was previously spotlighted for its replacement of eggs in fine baked goods.

The soluble dietary fiber is marketed as having an emulsifying and stabilizing effect in a wide variety of bakery products, while helping manufacturers achieve cost reductions of up to 40 percent in comparison to products containing eggs.

The European market has ascribed applicable health claims for alpha-dextrin. “If you put it together with a certain amount of starch, 10 percent of the alpha-dextrin in a starchy meal consumed together,” Verena Klaus, manager for Food & Flavor Biosolutions at Wacker, told FoodIngredientsFirst in an interview.

“Your blood sugar levels will not rise as much as if you had consumed the meal without alpha-dextrin.”

By Benjamin Ferrer

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