Hello my friends.. Today I decided to add an new section on my blog and it will be about food chemistry.. If you following me you already know that I am a Pastry Chef and I love making sweets and candies. I have shown you, in the past tones of photos with my deserts but I have never show you how this magic happens scientific. At my first post of food chemistry I will write about caramelization of food.
I think that we all like sugar ... But I am sure that there is no one who does not love the dark color, the sugar gets when we heat it to get the caramel.
Imagine the caramel crust of crème brûlée , the caramel syrup on caramel cream , the delicious dark crust of bread, a coffee with intense aromas, beer with its various shades, roasted nuts and more ...
It is a reaction of non-enzymatic browning of sugars with the use of heat, called caramelization. It is known that sugar is converted to caramel at a temperature above 160 ° C.
Caramelization occurs during heating of foods that are rich in carbohydrates (sugars). During the development of temperatures, a water loss occurs and then a series of complex chemical reactions (isomerization - polymerization).
Describing the caramelization of sucrose (common sugar), it decomposes with the help of temperature to glucose and fructose, then it condenses due to the loss of water and finally, polymerization is carried out by rendering the colors of the sugar.
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Caramelization varies depending on the type of sugar we have. Thus, for fructose, galactose, glucose, maltose we have 110 °, 160 °, 160 ° and 180 ° C initial caramelization temperature, respectively.
Caramelization derivatives are those high molecular weight substances that change the taste and aroma of products. From these polymers, the dyes we get are the caramel-colored pigment known in the food industry.
Depending on how they are made, we have:
E150 (a): Plain caramel, caustic caramel, spirit caramel
E150 (b):Caustic sulfite caramel
E150 (c): Ammonia caramel, baker's caramel, confectioner's caramel, beer caramel
E150 (d): Sulfite ammonia caramel, acid-proof caramel, soft-drink caramel
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Caramel is 90% by weight of pigments used in the food industry and 70% is used in beverages and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, whiskey, beer and fruit juices.
Caramel pigments are liquid or solid bodies with dark brown to black color. Beyond E150 (a), the rest is chemically produced.
Effects of pigments in our health.
E150 (a): No toxicological problems have been observed,
E150 (b): The amount contained in the food is considered to be safe,
E150 (c): toxicological researches are continueing
E150 (d): May cause gastrointestinal problems, e.g. diarrhea.
Sugar candies in various states of caramelization.
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In conclusion, caramelization also has the formation of flavoring compounds, diacetyls (caramel flavor) and other aromatic compounds, such as furans, and derivatives, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) found in juices, honey, milk and cigarettes. Finally, maltol has a flavor reminiscent of freshly baked bread and is used as a flavor enhancer (E636) in breads and cakes.Finally I want to tell you that the caramel has a bitter taste and is not sweet as some people want to believe.
References
wikipedia
BCA Chemistry
Wikipedia
Cuisitive
p.s. I want to thank 
