Adding fish oil to different foods

The structures and properties of different foods can interact with the microencapsulated fish oil emulsion in different ways. Different methods of processing foods can also impact on the emulsion. Researchers at Riddet Institute study these interactions and modify the emulsion to suit different types of food.

Transcript

Amit Taneja (Riddet Institute)

Manufacturing wise, the beauty of the emulsion is that it goes into products very well.

Dr Harjinder Singh (Riddet Institute)

The one we are producing can be added to a range of products, for example, you’ve got home baked goods like breads and muffins, and cereals and bars, and then dairy products – yoghurt, milk – various kinds of juices.

The amount of encapsulated fish oil will be dependent on the type of food matrix, and the level of acidity is quite critical. Whether the food is solid or liquid seems to make a big difference. Generally speaking, you can add high amounts in solid foods like bread and muffins, as compared to juices and milk. Different foods have different matrix and different levels of acidity and different requirements for processing so, in a way, what happens is the properties of the raw material become extremely important – so how that raw material is going to interact within that product system. Say, for example, if you have orange juice, might be destroyed by heat treatments – all those common food processing operations may destroy that – so the core technology is similar, but we do have different systems for acid-based foods, we have slightly modified formulation for the raw material so that… If its ambient storage at room temperature for shelf life of 1 year, it’s very hard to do, but if its short shelf life and 5 degree storage, then it’s relatively easy to do.

Acknowledgements: Crop & Food Research Pluggedinlib