The Challenge: Replacing Silicon Dioxide
Our client faces a challenge to maintain the structure of their vitamin product in the form of a paste, which consists of a mix of malt extracts, oils and solids. They now use Silicon Dioxide as a texturizing agent, but are looking for a way to replace it.
Deadline: 12 September 2023
In more detail
The paste can be defined as a viscous, non-Newtonian system of finely dispersed solids. Thus, the pastes are an oil-based , dispersed solid system with emulsified components. The emulsion is stabilized by conventional surfactants and Pickering emulsifier as well as a three-dimensional network made up of structuring and thickening agents. This network improves the emulsion’s stability by lowering the mobility of the dispersed components and is responsible for the viscoelastic properties of the system.
The non-Newtonian characteristic of the system, thixotropic or dilatant, is mainly defined by the structuring agent and the network it forms (In this case thixotropic).
Besides the bare influence of the recipe’s components, the properties in terms of stability and viscosity of the system are influenced significantly by the shear forces utilized during the homogenization process.
The Recipe
The recipe consists of 35% liquid malt extract, 35% vegetable oils and a mixture of various solids as texturizing system and functional carrier. In the existing basic composition, the pastes have approx. 38% crude fat, 5.5% crude protein and 10% moisture.
