Carbohydrates and food : technological aspects

Carbohydrates are omnipresent in food and beverage formulations. This situation, which often makes them unavoidable, is due to the fact that they play numerous roles in food processing, at both sensory and technological levels. While some have a sweetening power, and the ability to transform into highly palatable compounds, others go unnoticed at the tasting stage in terms of flavor. However, in terms of mouthfeel, some of them add viscosity, or even lead to gelling. Because of their affinity with water, they also help stabilize foodstuffs by inhibiting the micro-organisms they harbor. Finally, through hydrogenation processes, they are the source of polyols used as mass sweeteners. They are also excellent substrates for fermentation, particularly alcoholic fermentation for the production of potable alcohols. A non-exhaustive review of the roles of different carbohydrates underlines their importance in the various sectors of the food industry.

Firstly, the technological functionalities of carbohydrates in the food industry are examined, with case studies for each of the main sugars. The review covers not only lactose, dextrose, fructose and sucrose, but also fructo-oligosaccharides, polydextrose and cyclo-dextrins. Case studies to illustrate the roles of sugars in food processing technology cover a wide range of industries and preparations, such as milk (condensed and dehydrated milks, yoghurt, milk jam), ice cream, ice cream and sorbet, soft drinks, traditionally sweet products (confectionery, caramel, chocolate, honey), but also the charcuterie industry and the bread-making sector.

Other themes are then addressed, notably the non-enzymatic browning reaction, sometimes sought after in certain applications, sometimes considered undesirable in others. Aspects relating to fermentations then focus on food applications, but also on the manufacture of agrofuels such as bioethanol, as well as biosourced packaging obtained from cane sugar.

This is followed by an overview of the different presentations of sugars for the food industry, highlighting the diversification of the sugar industry's offer in terms of product references and quality control criteria. Finally, a brief review of the non-food uses of sugars closes this article, which aims to demonstrate the importance of carbohydrates in food technology, entering certain formulations in often significant proportions.