By-Products in the Baking and Snack Industries and their Effect on Texture

Food waste and by-products are generated in large quantities in the food industry. 38% of this waste occurs during food processing. It arises from a variety of sources including animal-derived (e.g. hooves, feathers, blood and whey) and vegetable-derived (e.g. peelings, seeds, starch and juice). The disposal of this waste is of detriment to the environment due to its poor biological stability, significant nutritional value and high concentration of organic compounds. The large amount of food waste and its microbial decomposition may cause adverse effect on the environment and human health. At a large cost for waste treatment, it is an additional financial burden on the food manufacturer. Food manufacturing industries have low profit margins and the additional impact of the processing cost of waste is a great disadvantage to the food industry along with the agricultural sector and the country’s economy.

There is, therefore, a great motivation to reduce this waste. One form this can take is through the efficient use of by-products, exploiting their often favourable textural or nutritional properties (polysaccharides, proteins, fats, fibres, flavour compounds, phytochemicals and bioactive compounds). 

The large volume of low cost by-products gives an economical advantage. Functional ingredients obtained from industrial by-products are a promising vehicle for the nutritional improvement of traditional bakery products and may provide health promoting properties. However, the incorporation of by-product functional ingredients also influences technological and sensorial properties.

There have been countless publications of research into the use of by-products in the bakery and snack industries using Texture Analysers, in both academic and industrial settings. Some examples of the most recent research are outlined below.

A patent has recently been released by Cornell University, entitled 'extrusion of agro-food industry by-products and protein concentrates into value-added foods'. As the agro-food industries grow worldwide, increasingly large quantities of fruit-processing by-products are generated as waste accounting for 25-40% of the total fruits processed. These fruit residues, referred to as ‘pomace’, are the pulpy solid remaining after the extraction of juice from fruits. This patent describes the production of edible foodstuffs from food industry by-products and protein concentrates using supercritical fluid extrusion (SCFX), as well as the edible foodstuffs produced by these processes, such as shelf-stable puffed products. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to measure the textural properties of pomace puffs. The process of this patent could serve as a model system for today's food processing operations to better transform their by-product streams into value-added, edible products. Read more

At the University of Guelph researcher have been researching the effect of the incorporation of goji berry by-product on the biochemical, physical and sensory properties of selected bakery products. The goji berry, native to China and Tibet, is gaining widespread recognition around the world as a superfood owing to its excellent nutritional and therapeutic properties. One of the popular products made from goji berry is goji juice/concentrate. The production of goji juice/concentrate produces substantial amounts of goji berry by-product (GBP) which is usually discarded by manufacturers, resulting in increasing processing cost and environmental harm. Owing to the superior nutritional quality of goji berry, GBP can be a promising value-added and cost-effective functional ingredient. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to measure cookie break strength. Read more

Meanwhile, researchers from Chulalongkorn University have been investigating unripe papaya by-product, from food wastes to functional ingredients in pancakes. Papaya is one of the most economic and valuable fruits in tropical countries. However, the fruit processing industries generate a high volume of unripe papaya waste and by-products. To reduce this waste, unripe papaya powder (UPP) was manufactured and incorporated into pancake formulation. They used their TA.XTplus Texture Analyser to measure sample texture, specifically hardness and chewiness. The results suggest that UPP from fruit processing waste can be regarded as a promising functional ingredient to incorporate with pancakes. Read more 

Scientists from Oklahoma State University Stillwater have been researching the development of new chip products from brewer's spent grain. The objective of this study was to develop a palatable chip product that maximized the level of inclusion of brewer's spent grain. Results showed that there were no significant differences in the texture of the chips containing different levels of BSG. Development of an alternative value-added product represents an opportunity for breweries nationwide to turn a processing waste into a future asset. Read more 

Work at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute has been progressing in the research of the utilisation of potato peel in fabricated potato snacks. To address the problem of dietary restraint of health-conscious people, a techno-feasible process for development of low-fat and high-fibre fabricated potato snack has been standardised. The product was optimised on the basis of fat and fibre content, browning index, hardness, crunchiness, and overall acceptability (OAA) by using the central composite rotatable design (CCRD) of response surface methodology (RSM). They used their TA.XTplus Texture Analyser to measure hardness and crunchiness. The developed technology can diversify the present processed potato product range with effective utilisation of its peel. Read more

At the University of Parma researchers have been investigating the effect of the addition of green coffee parchment on structural, qualitative and chemical properties of gluten-free bread. Green coffee parchment (GCP) is becoming interesting, due to the diffusion of wet processing in which coffee parchment is collected separately; it is one of the less studied coffee by-products, but it is reported to be rich in phenolic compounds and dietary fibre. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to measure crumb firmness. Find out more

And finally, researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki have been investigating biscuits enriched with dietary fibre powder obtained from the water-extraction residue of maize milling by-product. They used their TA.XT2i Texture Analyser to measure biscuit dough consistency. Read more

Texture Analysis is a mandatory stage in the Research and Development of bakery and snack products incorporating by-products, when texture can be altered by the addition of different quantities of ingredients, and must be measured after each iteration of ingredient or process modifications.

There is a Texture Analysis test for virtually any physical property. Contact Stable Micro Systems today to learn more about our full range of solutions.

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For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.

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