NUTRA NEWS: Tasters prefer soya milk with Aquamin
Recent tests by the Independent Sensory Services demonstrated the benefits of Aquamin, a natural multi-mineral complex from Marigot, as a source of additional mineral fortification in soya drinks.
When compared to drinks fortified with calcium carbonate or tri-calcium phosphate, results showed that the beverage containing Aquamin offered improved taste and texture, as well as reduced sedimentation – a key advantage in this application.
“We are delighted with the results of these independent tests, says David O’Leary, commercial manager, Marigot.“Even without added flavouring, the soya drink containing Aquamin attracted positive comments from the assessors, offering a cleaner after-taste. What’s more, Aquamin can be easily incorporated into existing production processes, and has no adverse effect on taste or texture and leaves very little residual sediment, an additional advantage for beverage manufacturers.
The blind-coded tests covered a range of criteria using three commercially available soya drinks. A panel of assessors, experienced in sensory analysis, judged the flavour and texture of each product. The assessors also examined the mouth coating characteristics, viscosity, powdery mouthfeel and astringency as well as the amount of residual sediment in the glass.
The Aquamin-fortified soya drink was preferred overall by the assessors to the beverage containing tri-calcium phosphate and proved as popular as the vanilla flavoured calcium carbonate product.
Further tests also revealed that, while matching it for taste and texture, Aquamin left significantly less sediment in the glass than the beverage fortified with calcium carbonate. This is a significant finding for manufacturers looking to overcome the traditional problems of unappealing residue in mineral fortified drinks.
Aquamin is an organic mineral ingredient derived from seaweed (Lithothamnion calcareum). It is rich in marine calcium and magnesium as well as 70 trace
minerals. Its unique, porous honeycomb structure means Aquamin does not impact on the taste or texture of the final product.
PUBLISHED BY BELL PUBLISHING IN THE FIRST ISSUE OF FOOD & DRINK NUTRACEUTICALS
