They call me mallow yellow
Combinations of gelatin and pectin can create unusual new opportunities for confectioners, according to gelatin giant Rousselot.
Technical service manager Paul Stevens said: "By adding hydrocolloids like pectin to gelatin you can create sweets with the same elasticity and a melting point 10 degrees higher: very appealing to companies in hot countries."
The breakthrough enabled manufacturers to make fruit-flavoured marshmallows with an acidic pH, something that had not been possible before, he claimed. "If you try and create a standard marshmallow in an acidic environment, it collapses.
"By adding pectin, we've been able to make lemon, pineapple, apple and orange marshmallows with a fresh taste and fluffy texture at pH 2.8-3.5 compared to the standard pH range of 5-6." While citrus flavours had been used in marshmallows before, said Stevens, their expression was very poor owing to the neutral pH. "Most big manufacturers were doing test runs with the new concepts, with new launches likely in early 2009."
Perhaps the biggest new opportunity for gelatin was in fat replacement, however: "Gelatin coats the mouth like fat, prolongs flavour release and melts like fat, making it ideal for cheese, ice cream, mayonnaise and desserts like panna cotta. It has 4kcals/g (fat has 9kcal/g), no E-number, a nice texture, and can bind up to 10 times its own weight in water."
