PLANT BASED DAIRY ALTERNATIVES 2022
Plant-based dairy
alternatives
Sisterna sucrose esters
Sisterna sucrose esters are emulsifiers with
unique and powerful functionalities. Not only
are they very effective oil-in-water emulsifiers,
they also interact with proteins, which protects proteins
from coagulation. These are just of few of the
numerous benefits of using Sisterna sucrose esters.
In the area of dairy alternatives there are three
different products that we can focus on for sucrose
esters; milk alternatives, vegan ice and cream sauce.
Emulsification/aeration
Dairy milk contains a high level of proteins (roughly
3%), which are natural emulsifiers in milk and dairy
products. Plant-based alternatives, with the exception
of soy, generally contain far less protein. Sisterna
sucrose esters are very powerful oil-in-water emulsifiers,
that can help to keep milk alternatives stable
for a long time. Sucrose esters strongly decrease the
surface tension between oil and water, and therefore
it is easy to reach very small oil droplets during
homogenisation. Also, with sucrose esters it becomes
easy to incorporate air. A side effect of the
large number of small oil droplets and/or air bubbles
is their effect on colour; the products appear whiter.
Suspension of particles
Besides emulsifying oil and fat, sucrose esters also
seem to be able to "emulsify" fatty particles. Sucrose
esters have the ability to keep the particles of cocoa
and almonds longer in suspension, and slow down
their sedimentation in a drink. We do not see this effect
in oat drink. Probably the fat content of a particle
plays a role.
24 · January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
Protection of proteins
There is a third benefit to use sucrose esters in dairy
alternatives. Sisterna sucrose esters are known for
their interaction with various sources of protein. This
interaction makes proteins less sensitive to coagulation
due to acid, heat, shear or destabilising components
like alcohol.
Just like caseinate, proteins of most milk alternatives
have an iso-electric point – the pH at which the
proteins have the same charge, making it possible to
move towards each other, and coagulate.
A suspension of soy protein in water was heated
(60°C): the reference without any addition, and the
variant with 0.2% Sisterna SP70. After cooling, acid
was added to give several acidity levels. Fig. 1 shows
the effect of sucrose esters SP70.
Milk alternatives
Milk alternatives have become increasingly popular
in recent years. They may be based on soy, rice, coconut
and several types of nuts, seeds and grains.
Author: Lia Bax, Product & Technical Sales Support
Manager, Sisterna B.V. The Netherlands
(photo: pxhere)
/international-dairy.com
