Clean Label texturants: Clean Label starches and pregelatinized flours

Clean Label products have long since broken out of their niche status, and consumers are expecting short ingredient lists that don't contain E-numbers. Clean Label starches and pregelatinized flours are functional ingredients that allow foods to be produced that still satisfies all expectations in terms of product stability, texture, mouthfeel, and declarations.

Functionality without E-numbers

Clean Label starches and pregelatinized flours are native starches and flours that have been “modified” by physical and mechanical processes. In order to stabilize them, the products can undergo thermal treatment, pressure, and/or separation processes. This increases the process stability, freeze-thaw stability, and acid stability of Clean Label starches. They come in the form of stabilized food starches, instant starches, and pregelatinized flours. Advancements in the stabilization methods have brought about constant improvements in the stability of the products such that, nowadays, Clean Label products can replace modified starches in many applications.

More information

Clean Label instant starches and pregelatinized flours are preswollen by the addition of steam, and then dried by roller, extruder, or spray tower. Depending on which method is used, the starches and flours will still have to be milled. Hot preswelling makes the starches and flours capable of binding large amounts of water even at cold processing temperatures. The type of method and the particle size greatly influence the water binding capacity as well as the rate of dispersion and dissolving. Putting it simply, the following properties can be claimed:

• Finder powders absorb water faster and are quicker to form smooth surfaces
• Courser powders or flakes lead to slower dispersal but fewer hydrostatic effects, and the particles are easier to stir in without clumping
• Extruded instant starches and pregelatinized flours have slower viscosity development and a lower achievable final viscosity
• Roll-dried products lead to faster viscosity development with high viscosity
• Spray drying is more gentle and therefore retains the original structure of the starches; in many of these starches, this leads to a slight viscosity increase under moderate heating, while in roll- or extruder-dried products, by contrast, the viscosity remains stable or decreases
• Apart from stabilizing, the fundamental properties of Clean Label starches remain comparable to those of native starches.

Given their gentle “modification”, such starches and pregelatinized flours do not have to be declared as modified. Clean Label (instant) starches are most often declared as “starch” and pregelatinized flour as "pregelatinized" flour. As with all other products, for raw materials containing allergens, the allergen source must be declared with emphasis.

Versatile applications of Clean Label texturants  

In the food industry, Clean Label starches and pregelatinized flours are used in a great variety of applications, and fulfil many technological purposes such as thickening, stabilizing, and gel-forming. With their high water-binding capacities, they keep foods fresh and contribute importantly to the product integrity.

In baked goods, instant starches and pregelatinized flours increase the dough volume and make the dough easier to handle by increasing its elasticity. By adding pregelatinized flours, doughs can have more water added to them, which prolongs the shelf-life of breads. This is traditionally done using tangzhong/water-roux, but pregelatinized flours are a more cost-effective and time-efficient modern alternative. Diverse grain varieties are available at low to high milling grades (wholegrain); most often wheat-based products are used for reasons of functionality and cost. Even for gluten-free baked goods, there are suitable types that improve the freshness and dough properties of gluten-free breads. In gluten-free doughs, especially, there is a lack of structure during shaping and at the beginning of the baking process, due to the missing gluten network; this is where pregelatinized flours can help.
Instant starches such as wheat and pea are often used to adjust the viscosity of doughs for non-perishable baked goods and fine pastries. The starches help compensate for fluctuating flour qualities (e.g. low falling number, low gluten quality).

Vegan dairy alternatives lack the milk protein responsible for forming a light gel and creamy texture. Clean Label tapioca starches can deliver these texture effects, and have high resilience in demanding processes and against retrogradation, so they can withstand the harsh conditions in the production and prolonged refrigeration of yoghurts. Thanks to Clean Label tapioca starches in organic quality, it is possible to produce yoghurt alternatives not only with an appealing declaration but also with a focus on sustainability.

Clean Label starches are also popular ingredients in the segment of soups and sauces, given their consumer-friendly declaration. Depending on the desired consistency (long vs. short), the required heat stability, acid stability, or if the starch should cold-binding or not, the variety of products to choose from is huge. For example, UHT treated sauces such as mayonnaise require highly functional and preferably cold-swelling thickeners with a long consistency. Clean Label instant starches based on tapioca or potato can be the fitting ingredients depending on the preference of botanical origin. For dehydrated sauces and soups to be prepared by the consumer, Clean Label corn or potato starches achieve rapid hydration and a creamy mouthfeel. Wheat starches, with their strong white turbidity, are great for lightening and can replace to a certain degree cream, milk, and other whiteners. Courser pregelatinized wheat flours are ideal for achieving better stirrability and avoiding clumping. They are less hygrostatic and therefore more easily wettable.

Fruit fillings and base materials have to retain their properties even when chilled or frozen, and that at an acidic pH. Clean Label tapioca starches lend fruit fillings a smooth, glossy surface with high transparency and without the risk of syneresis or delayed thickening.

Starches play an important role furthermore in dessert and confectioner’s creams, where they lend the product a creamy, full mouthfeel. They also guarantee baking stability and keep the creamy mass in shape. That means cakes and pastries can be creatively filled and decorated. Depending on whether the creams are cold or hot stirred, baked and/or frozen, there is a selection of potato, tapioca, or waxy corn starches to choose from. The best starches for short consistencies with high stability are pea starches.

Salty snacks are favourite things to nibble on between meals. Beside nice flavour and satisfying texture, consumers expect naturalness even from this food category. In direct expanded snacks, Clean Label potato starches achieve the desired expansion and firmness. Clean Label pea and wheat starches, in turn, are especially suitable for baked snacks and result in a pronounced crispiness. Depending on the type of snack and the production process, mixtures of hot- and cold-swelling starches are used. For coated nuts, for example, typically 50–85% native starches and 15–50% cold-swelling starches are used, where the choice of starches depends on the desired texture, the process, and the products to be used.

Meat alternatives are expected to be just as good as their animal counterparts in every way when it comes to flavour and consistency. In the past, this was achieved with countless additives, but that resulted in long declarations full of E-numbers. This is where Clean Label starches come in, helping to create a meat-like texture with a consumer-friendly list of ingredients. Clean Label potato or pea starches, with their high gelatinization, lead to a juicy mouthfeel and, in combination with dietary fibre, lead to the necessary product stability for withstanding harsh processing conditions and freeze-thaw cycles.