The soy specialist, formed through a joint venture between Bunge and Dupont, has been working on the new Alpha 5800 line for over a year, and originally developed it to meet a specific customer’s needs, but is now making it available to food manufacturers globally.
The two versions, Alpha 5800 and Alpha 5812, cover a range of applications between them, including ready-to-drink and dry-blended beverages, frozen desserts, puddings, cream fillings, cheeses and yoghurts. They are also suitable for products with low to medium protein inclusion levels as the protein content is 78 per cent on a dry weight basis.
George Rakes, applied technology manager, told FoodNavigator.com that membrane technology involves separating out the soy components by size; in the case of the Alpha line, natural sugars are screened out. The texture benefits of the ingredients are down to the higher protein content he said.
The ingredients could be used to bring cost savings and margin improvements to products. Andrea Burr, product line manager, also explained that they can be used in dairy products where higher protein content is desired.
Compared to using a whole bean extract, the new protein concentrates are said to deliver higher protein value, but to be lower in sodium, fat and carbohydrates.
The company says it has also done consumer sensory testing, where the Alpha line was used in a soy beverage concept and compared with whole bean extract. The Alpha-containing beverage “rated considerably higher in flavour liking”.
Two versions
Burr said the only variation between the 5800 and the 5812 variants is that the latter contains lecithin, which helps with dispersability. This is helpful in products like dry blended beverages and desserts, to which the consumer usually adds liquid in the home then mixes with a spoon or a shaker.
When companies to the mixing stage, they have specialist equipment that would ensure dispersability.