June/July Issue

Throughout the food industry there is considerable interest in natural flavours replacing synthetics which are neither favoured by regulatory authorities nor consumers. As a consequence major food and flavour laboratories companies have initiated extensive research and development projects to identify cost-effective ingredients which can serve as the basis for a wide range of natural fruit and savoury flavours.

Extracts of herbs and fruit often reinforced with their nature identical analogues are used in beverages, dairy and dessert products as natural fruit flavours Natural savoury flavours can be derived from a variety of ingredients including: HVP, yeast extracts, and enzyme-modified cheese.

[HVP] Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins are traditionally produced by acid hydrolsis of plant proteins which generate amino acids and peptides with a savoury or 'meat' flavour. The discovery of traces of hazardous chemicals [ 3-MCPD] in the hydrolysate, several producers have developed an altenative route to HVP based on enzymatic hydrolysis. As a result both 'classical and enzymatic HVP are available. Our survey : 'HVP- Applications, Producers and Markets' reviews the applications, output, producers, prices and outlook for both classical and enzymatic HVP worldwide.

Yeast extracts and autolysates derived from bakers' and brewers' yeast have become popular as ingredients in savoury flavours due to their mild flavour, safety and 'natural' image. In our survey 'Yeast Extracts - Current Status and Outlook' we discuss the production process and economics of yeast extracts, review applications in the food and fermentation area and estimate total output by producers worldwide. Current prices of yeast extracts and the projected market by 2005 is given.

Cheese is a popular savoury flavour and in recent years enzyme-modified cheese derived by treating young 'immature' cheese with lipase/esterase and protease enzymes giving it a stronger maturer flavour which is well adapted for savoury flavours. Our new survey: 'Enzyme-Modified Cheese- a Versatile Flavour' reviews the production process, enzymes, producers [free and captive] and prices.

Feedstocks - both carbohydrate and nitrogen - play a crucial role in determining the economics of fermentation processes and products. Three principal carbohydrate feedstocks are: molasses [cane and beet], glucose syrups/starch hydrolysates [from corn and wheat] and sucrose. Within the past 12 months molasses prices have increased by over 50% which has distorted the production cost of bakers' yeast for which molasses serves as feedstock. On the other hand glucose syrup prices have been stable whilst sucrose used as fermentation feedstock in the EU is subsidised making its use more attractive. The amounts of caqrbohydrate feedstocks used in the following fermentation processes: yeasts, organic acids, enzymes, amino acids, antibiotics, vitamins and polysaccharides , are reviewed and major processors in volved in these processes are listed. The effective cost of these feedstocks are compared. See our survey: Carbohydrate Feedstocks for the Fermentation Industry.