Curdlan is a kind of neutral water-insoluble microbial exopolysaccharide, which has thermal-gelation property and has numerous applications as a gelling agent in the food, construction, and pharmaceutical industries. In 1996, U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve and allow curdlan gum to be added directly in food as a food additive. In 2006, curdlan gel has been approved by the Chinese administration as a new food additive. In 2008, Yiming , as a professional curdlan gum supplier, had built its second manufacturing plant in Shuyang, Jiangsu Province, thus realizing the mass production of curdlan (over 500 tons/year). For now, curdlan gum has been widely applied in the food processing industry (e.g. bean products, surimi products, flour products, artificial seafood, meat products, etc.) as a gelling agent, water-holding agent, film-forming agent, thickener, binder, and stabilizer, and can improve food texture, elasticity, and water-holding property.

Agar is a polysaccharide extracted from seaweed and is one of the most widely used seaweed gel in the world. It can be applied in food industry, pharmaceutical industry, daily chemical industry, biological engineering and many other fields. In food processing, agar-agar can significantly improve food quality. Thanks to its properties of solidity and stability, the natural agar-agar can form a complex with other substances. Thus, this natural food additive can be used as a thickening, suspending, emulsifying and stabilizing agents as well as coagulant and preservative. As a mature colloid company, Yiming sells agar-agar ingredients at good prices. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Gellan gum is a water-soluble anionic polysaccharide produced by the bacterium Sphingomonas elodea. As a natural food additive , gellan gum was first approved for food use in Japan in 1988. It has subsequently been approved for food, non-food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses by many other countries such as the US, Canada, China, Korea and the European Union etc. The organic gellan gum can be seen as a popular replacement for other gelling agents because it's effective in very small amounts and produces a clear gel that isn't sensitive to heat. Gellan gum is widely used as a thickener, binder, and stabilizer in different food applications. It mainly stabilizes the water-based gels, such as desserts and drinking jellies. Even gellan replaces gelatin in some dairy products, such as yoghurt and sour cream in vegan items. As a professional gellan gum supplier, Yiming can provide you with high-quality gellan gum at reasonable prices.

Carrageenans are linear sulfated polysacharrides extracted from certain species of red algae (seaweed) of the Rodophyceae class. These carbohydrates have the ability to form, at very low concentrations, thick solutions or gels in aqueous media. Carrageenan is usually in the form of off-white to white or tan to yellowish powder, free of odor or taste. The gel is heat-reversible, it can dissolve after heating up and the solution can gel while cooling. It’s steady-going, it may not reduce gel strength and viscosity even long-term placement. After combining with Konjac, Locust Bean Gum and Xanthan Gum, it is able to increase the gel potential with much better elastic.

Konjac (scientific name: Amorphophallus konjac), is a sort of araceae perennial herb, provided with a centuries-old plantation history in the Southwestern and Midwestern regions of China. Its main component is glucomannan (KGM). Konjac gum is rich in water-soluble edible cellulose and trace elements, also has 16 kinds of amino acids, and has the characteristics of low calorie, low protein and low fat. Konjac gum is widely used in the food industry. For example, it is used in meat products, dairy products, candy, jelly, etc., to improve the texture and structure of the product, improve the taste and the gel aggregation effect. Konjac gum is also widely used in medicine, health care, bioengineering, petroleum industry, textile industry, tobacco processing and cosmetics industry.

Colloid

In the food processing industry, the colloid is the one that thickens food, provides adhesion and gel-forming ability, and helps to obtain the desired shape, viscosity, hardness, thickness, crispness and softness of food. For example, the natural colloid can act as a thickener in some soups and sauces. It can also perform gel-forming ability in pudding and jelly, or emulsify in yogurt, ice cream, etc.

As a professional colloid company, Yiming can provide you with a list of different colloid types. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Types of Colloid

Colloids In Food

Dairy products

milk, yogurt
Sauces

salad dressing, tomato sauce, gravy
Desserts

jelly, pudding
Surimi products

fish ball, crab stick, fish tofu

What are the Properties of Colloid

Stability: The colloidal properties are stable. The particles in the dispersed phase move continuously and remain suspended in the solution.

Filterability: The colloid needs a special filter, that is, an ultrafilter to filter it. The colloid can easily pass through the filter paper without residue.

Heterogeneity: Since colloid is composed of dispersed phase and dispersion medium, it is called heterogeneity in nature.

Homogeneous appearance: Although colloids have suspended particles and are heterogeneous in nature, they appear to be homogeneous solutions. This is because the suspended particles are very small and invisible to the naked eye.

Application of Colloids in Food Industry

Colloids have great applications in the food industry. Many of the food materials we eat are colloidal in nature. Milk and many dairy products, such as cheese and butter, are all colloids.

More precisely, milk is an emulsion (liquid in a liquid colloidal system). In milk, butter and fat are dispersed in water. Bread is a colloidal system in which air is dispersed in the baked dough.

FAQs of Colloid

What is a colloid?

In chemistry, a colloid is a phase separated mixture in which one substance of microscopically dispersed insoluble or soluble particles is suspended throughout another substance.
What are the 5 types of colloids?

Combining different substances can result in five main types of colloid mixtures: aerosols, foams, emulsions, sols and gels.
What are the characteristics of a colloid?

A colloid must be heterogeneous, i.e., consist of dissimilar constituents, for example, silver and water. It must be multiphasic, i.e., solid/liquid, gas/liquid, etc. The particles must be insoluble in the solution or suspension.
Are colloids safe for everyone?

In fact, most common edible colloids are natural. Some are carbohydrates and proteins, others are derived from microbial fermentation.