How Functional Flours Can Enhance The Quality Of Pre-Made Food Products
In food production, there are many factors to consider. The main factor that will affect the success of any product, but particularly pre-made food items, is the ingredients you use.
Natural products are important for consumers, but many products are naturally not shelf-stable or long-lasting, and some require treatment processes to enhance their natural properties.
Thankfully, many of these processes involve temperature treatments, such as heating, drying or freezing the ingredients.
The result is ‘functional’ ingredients that are natural and have unique properties that will be a benefit to any pre-made food manufacturer.
One of the most common and useful functional ingredients is functional flour. Functional flours offer many benefits when used in pre-made food products, as we highlight in this article.
Functional Flours Come In A Range Of Types
Functional flours can be created using almost any base type of flour. There are also many different types of functional flour available that have different properties and are designed for specific products.
Specialists such as Limagrain Ingredients offer a wide range of functional flours to suit every need. This experienced flour supplier offers a range of options, including:
- Innosense Texturiser that gives starch and thickness to pre-made meals such as soups
- Innosense Nutrition increases the protein and fibre content of the food without changing taste or texture
- Innosense Process improves certain factors such as the viscosity or water retention of your product
- Innosense Carriers can be used to dilute certain vitamins and other ingredients
- Innosense Masa flour can be used in Tex Mex products and is more shelf-stable and long-lasting than traditional Masa products
Each of these flours is clean-label and dust-free, so if you choose this flour supplier, you can be sure that you’re getting the best possible standard of product.
Functional Flours Improve Nutrition Without Compromising On Taste Or Texture
Making food healthy and improving its vitamin and mineral content is a key part of the food production process. At the same time, you need to make sure that anything you add to your products doesn’t affect the taste or texture of your product or make it unpalatable or less appetising. Functional flours that are treated naturally using heat or dehydration processes can release more fibre and other nutrients while still retaining the same textural and taste properties as untreated flour. The result is tasty foods that are more nutritious for consumers.
They Also Lengthen The Shelf Life Of Your Products
Many natural products that aren’t treated in any way have a short shelf life, which can be an issue in today’s modern world. How long a food lasts depends on where it is stored and the type of food, but there are ways to extend a product’s shelf life and ensure that it stays fresh and ready for consumers to enjoy for longer. As reducing food waste is a key focus for the food production market, improving shelf life is crucial, which is why functional flours can be a useful solution for every pre-prepared food manufacturer.