Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is synthesized from fibers (fly/short lint, pulp, etc.), sodium hydroxide, and monochloroacetic acid. According to different uses, CMC has three specifications: pure product purity ≥ 97%, industrial product purity 70-80%, crude product purity 50-60%. CMC has excellent properties such as thickening, suspending, bonding, stabilizing, emulsifying and dispersing in food. It is the main food thickener for milk drinks, ice products, jams, jellies, fruit juices, flavorings, wines and various cans. stabilizer.
Application of CMC in Food Industry
1. CMC can make jam, jelly, fruit juice, seasoning, mayonnaise and various cans have proper thixotropy, and can increase their viscosity. Adding CMC to canned meat can prevent oil and water from stratifying and act as a clouding agent. It is also an ideal foam stabilizer and clarifier for beer. The amount added is about 5%. Adding CMC to pastry food can prevent the oil from seeping out of pastry food, so that long-term storage of pastry food will not dry out, and make the pastry surface smooth and delicate in taste.
2. In ice products—CMC has better solubility in ice cream than other thickeners such as sodium alginate, which can completely stabilize milk protein. Due to the good water retention of CMC, it can control the growth of ice crystals, so that the ice cream has a bulky and lubricated structure, and there is no ice residue when chewing, and the taste is particularly good. The amount added is 0.1-0.3%.
3. CMC is a stabilizer for milk beverages—when fruit juice is added to milk or fermented milk, it can cause the milk protein to condense into a suspended state and precipitate out of the milk, making the stability of milk beverages poor and prone to spoilage Bad. Especially to the long-term storage of milk drink extremely unfavorable. If CMC is added to fruit juice milk or milk beverage, the addition amount is 10-12% of the protein, it can maintain uniformity and stability, prevent milk protein from coagulating, and no precipitation, so as to improve the quality of milk beverage, and can be stored stably for a long time. spoiled.
4. Powdered food – when oil, juice, pigment, etc. need to be powdered, it can be mixed with CMC, and it can be easily powdered by spray drying or vacuum concentration. It is easily soluble in water when used, and the addition amount is 2-5% .
5. In terms of food preservation, such as meat products, fruits, vegetables, etc., after spraying with CMC dilute aqueous solution, an extremely thin film can be formed on the surface of the food, which can store food for a long time and keep the food fresh, tender and taste unchanged . And it can be washed with water when eating, which is very convenient. In addition, because food-grade CMC is harmless to the human body, it can be used in medicine. It can be used for CMC paper medicine, emulsified oil contaminating agent for injection, thickener for medicine slurry, grave material for ointment, etc.
CMC not only has a wide range of applications in the food industry, it also occupies an important position in light industry, textiles, papermaking, printing and dyeing, petroleum and daily chemicals