What is Sodium Alginate
Sodium alginate is a by-product of extracting iodine and mannitol from kelp or Sargassum of brown algae β- D-mannuronic acid（ β- D-mannuronic, m) and α- L-guluronic acid（ α- L-guluronic (g) is connected by (1 → 4) key. It is a natural polysaccharide with stability, solubility, viscosity and safety required for excipients of pharmaceutical preparations. Sodium alginate has been widely used in food industry and medicine.
Six functions of sodium alginate
Function 1. It is used to replace starch and gelatin as the stabilizer of ice cream, which can control the formation of ice crystals and improve the taste of ice cream.
Function 2. Many dairy products, such as refined cheese, whipped cream and dry cheese, can prevent the adhesion between food and packaging by using the stabilizing effect of sodium alginate, and can be used as the covering of dairy jewelry, which can make it stable and prevent the cracking of frosted pastry.
Function 3. It is used as thickener for salad (a cold dish), seasoning, pudding (a dessert), jam, ketchup and canned products to improve the stability of products and reduce liquid leakage.
Function 4. Adding sodium alginate in the production of vermicelli, vermicelli and rice flour can improve the cohesiveness of the product tissue, make it have strong tensile force, large bending degree and reduce the breakage rate. Especially for flour with low gluten content, the effect is more obvious.
Function 5. Adding sodium alginate to bread, pastry and other products can improve the homogeneity and water holding effect of the internal tissue of the products and prolong the storage time.
Function 6. Add a protective layer that can provide heat and fusion in frozen dessert products to improve the escape of fragrance and the performance of melting point.
Six functional properties of sodium alginate
(1) It has strong hydrophilicity and can dissolve in cold and warm water to form a very viscous and uniform solution.
(2) The formed true solution has softness, homogeneity and other excellent properties that are difficult to obtain by other analogues.
(3) It has a strong role in protecting colloid and has strong emulsifying power for oil.
(4) When aluminum, barium, calcium, copper, iron, lead, zinc, nickel and other metal salts are added to the solution, insoluble alginate will be formed. These metal salts are buffers of sodium and potassium phosphates and acetate, which can inhibit and delay solidification.
(5) Generally, the pH value is 7, which is neutral and can be adjusted between 4-10.
(6) It is a linear polymer electrolyte, which can be made into strong and tough fibers (alginic acid fibers) or films to prevent cracking.
Besides
Sodium alginate is an indispensable dietary fiber for human body. It has unique nutrition. It can combine organic matter, reduce cholesterol in serum and liver, inhibit the rise of total fat and total fatty acid concentration, improve the digestion and absorption of nutrients, and inhibit the absorption of radioactive strontium, cadmium and other harmful elements in the body. Because sodium alginate is a sodium carboxylate salt (containing - COONa), which can be dissolved in water, and the anion charged carboxylate ion (COO -) can combine with the harmful heavy metal elements such as lead and mercury in the human body to form the heavy metal salt precipitation of alginate. It is insoluble in water, so it can be excreted with feces. Long term consumption of hypoglycemic, sweet jelly, jujube powder and orange juice with sodium alginate will help treat hypertension, coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes and diseases of the intestinal system. Health food generally dissolves sodium alginate with auxiliary materials and water, mixes evenly, and then solidifies into particle, strip and fiber paper shape, which can be made into solid beverage or meat like food. Sodium alginate, as a food additive, accounts for about 10% of the total in Japan.
Five usages of sodium alginate
Usage 1: used as sizing agent and printing paste of textiles, and widely used in food industry as thickener, stabilizer and emulsifier
Usage 2: as emulsifying stabilizer and thickener, sodium alginate can be used in all kinds of food in China, and can be used in an appropriate amount according to production needs.
Usage 3: stabilizer; Thickening agent; Emulsifier; dispersant; Gelling agent; Coating agent; Suspending agent.
It is used in ice cream and cold spots in Japan to improve the shape retention and make the tissue delicate. The dosage is 0.1% ~ 0.4%. When making stuffing, it is endowed with cohesiveness, and its dosage is 0.1% ~ 0.7%. Because it is a hydrophilic polymer with strong hydration, the water adsorbed on the stabilizer is difficult to form ice crystals.
The United States used pasty filling, meat sauce, gravy, frozen food, chocolate, butter flavored hard candy, cold point gel, gel soft sweets, syrup, emulsion and so on, its dosage is 0.1% to 0.5%.
It can be used as a solidifying and removing agent of copper in beer production, and can be removed after coagulation with protein and tannin.
It can be made into film for anti stick packaging of candy.
Usage 4: it is used to increase blood volume and maintain blood pressure, eliminate histamine toxoid produced by burns, traumatic blood loss, stability of circulatory system before and after operation, massive hemorrhagic shock, burn shock, high fever and acute dysentery, and has good therapeutic effect. It can also excrete cholesterol, inhibit the absorption of Pb, CD and Sr by human body, protect gastrointestinal tract, whole intestine, lose weight and reduce blood sugar. In medicine, it is mainly used as suspension aid, emulsifier, thickener, capsule material of microcapsule, etc.
Usage 5: sodium alginate is a high viscosity polymer compound. It is different from starch and cellulose in that it has carboxyl group and is β- D-mannuronic acid is a high glycan uronic acid formed by glycoside bond.
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