Better, energy-saving and highly aromatic: researchers are working on the spices of the future
Paprika, parsley, garlic and marjoram: in the future we will enjoy spices that we as consumers used to be dried or in powder form as paste from the tube - this is the vision of food researchers at the University of Hohenheim. Compared to powder form, the paste has several advantages: The production is energy and therefore cost-saving, the paste contains more aroma, is more hygienic - and it does not dust or clump.
Salmonella in the paprika powder of potato chips: A food scandal that caused quite a stir in 1993. The excitement has subsided, but Prof. Dr. Reinhold Carle, food technologist at the University of Hohenheim at the Chair of Food of Plant Origin, can understand the concerns of consumers. "Spices are microbiologically highly sensitive foodstuffs, they have to be processed hygienically and very gently at the same time so that the aroma is preserved."
So far, spices have simply been crushed and dried - that is, prepared using techniques that come from previous centuries: "Native spices are dried with warm air - which consumes a lot of energy. Most come from developing countries, where they are often still dried on the ground where animals are also kept, so that the risk of transmission of pathogens is high."
Germ-free, inexpensive and consumer-friendly
Observations like these led Prof. Dr. Carle on a new research project. His approach - heating spices very quickly and in a closed system - has a number of new advantages in addition to improved hygiene: Up to now, domestic spices have been dried in dryers that are powered by fossil fuels, a time-consuming and expensive process. In the innovative process, the spices are only briefly heated. An approach that saves up to 85% energy, even if you take into account the higher transport costs for moving the water-based products.
The time-consuming cold grinding of the dried spices is also no longer necessary. Because in conventional production, the spices have to be embrittled with liquid nitrogen. This high level of effort is also necessary to prevent dust explosions.
An advantage for the consumer: In contrast to conventional spices, undesirable enzymes contained in the aromatic plants are already destroyed when the fresh plants are heated quickly. For example: proteolytic enzymes, such as those still present in dried ginger. If rind stomach is seasoned with conventional ginger powder, the enzyme is activated again - and the delicacy literally melts away.
In addition, the paste is more aromatic. Because many flavorings are volatile essential oils that are lost during drying. The paste, on the other hand, is heated in a closed system so that the precious flavors are preserved.
New technical procedures
Specifically, the team led by Prof. Dr. Carle with two technical procedures. In the Actijoule process, the freshly harvested, ground herbs are first blanched in a tubular heater with steam at 70 degrees and then heated to around 100 °C in seconds using electrical energy and immediately cooled again.
In addition, cooperation partners from the Freising Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) are experimenting with high-frequency heating. This is a kind of microwave heating, which also increases the temperature very quickly and cools down again.
The scientists have already successfully tested the novel process on exotic spices. Now the process is to be tested for the first time for domestic spices and on a practical scale.
To this end, the working group is cooperating, Prof. Dr. Carle with the Thuringian producer Pharmaplant GmbH, which, in addition to medicinal plants, mainly grows coriander and tarragon. Successful trials with parsley paste have already been made, and garlic and marjoram paste are to follow.
The third cooperation partner is HAGESÜD INTERSPICE GEWÜRZWERKE GmbH & Co. KG, a spice manufacturer in Hemmingen. In the technical center there, the seasoning pastes are also to be tested in sausage production. Customers are also asked about the acceptance of the new products in a sensory study.
Source: Hohenheim [ University ]
