The Role of Cassia Gum in Meat and Poultry Products Processing

The chemical composition of cassia gum has 75% polysaccharide, which has primarily a chain of mannopyranose units linked with galactopyranose units in a ratio of 5:1 respectively. High quality cassia is off white fine powder with a neutral odor and taste.

Special Chemical Properties

The cassia gum differs significantly from the other galactomannans in that it has fewer galactose molecules next to the long mannose chain. This has an enormous effect on the characteristics of the product  compared with other anionic polymers

Research has shown that use of cassia gum instead of a combination of carrageen and other galactomannans, reduces the total hydrocolloid requirement in the food recipe thus enhancing the efficiency of producing food products.

Applications in Meat Processing

The product is widely used in the food industry for purposes such as agent of moisture retention, thickener, and surface consistency.

Apart from the improvement of texture in-processed foods, these agents also provide other benefits such as improving the appeal and the palatability of the food. The rapid increase in demand of convenience foods consumption has translated to increased demand for the food the additives.

Applications in Processing of Poultry Products

Cassia is widely used in poultry and poultry containing dishes for its emulsifying, stabilizing, gelling properties and water retention properties. When used in food, research has shown that the product is stable without chemical alterations for a period of up to 20 months. It has also been noted that cassia gum is hydroscopic until a final moisture level of 8-12 % has been achieved. It also does not interact with nutrients in the food.

Improvement of Water Retention

Emulsification ability of the cassia gum primarily allows the oils and the water elements in the food to remain well mixed together in a homogenous mixture. It also enables the final product attain a firm and stable emulsion, while increasing the viscosity and without any changes to the properties of the processed food.

Levels of Usage

Apart from action of the gum in emulsification, foam stabilization, and moisture retention, greater usage is developing in its ability to form a range of soft to hard gels when combined with other types of gums. The ability to form a thermo reversible gel through blending with other gums means that cost efficiency will be obtained, other than when a single additive is used.

Potential Usage

More and more uses of cassia gum powder are emerging daily. Currently, it has a targeted demand of over 1 million kilograms in the United States alone as a food additive in pet food as well as in processed human food. It also has currently been included in the “list of existing food additives” as a stabilizer and thickener in various continents.

Biological studies have also shown that the galactomannan is recognized as a dietary fiber component and stable while tested with synthetic gastric juice.

Conclusion

Cassia gum has gained widespread acceptance due to its hydroscopic properties. Chemically it has fewer side chains which makes it significantly different from other galactomannans and hence its special properties.

This article has been posted by Biren Patel working at Agro Gums. Agro Gums is a guar and cassia gum manufacturing company offering high quality guar gum powder, fast hydration guar gum powder, cassia powder, guar splits and guar meal to satisfy the production requirements of various industries across the world.