Aishah's+essay

__**IMK 221 - FOOD INGREDIENTS**__ Nowadays, our country, Malaysia has developed into a huge change after 52 years the country had been independent. Since then, the country have change bit by bit until now we have achieved the title of a modern country since we have a few numbers of achievement in creating impressive and no other structure in the world such as Petronas Twin Tower and Pulau Pinang bridge. The development also getting more sophisticated by the built up of large, high and big buildings all over the country with various accommodations that satisfied community surrounding. Not be forgotten, the development in food industry where our country had produce many talented and brilliant scientist which discovered a lot of new things towards food industry. Now I would like to talk about the current innovation in food ingredients.

There are a lot of food ingredient that have been used to make various foods and among the major content in the food ingredients are water, carbohydrate, protein, lipids and additives. Every food ingredient contains different contents with different functional properties. One of the current innovation regarding food ingredients is the biotechnological application in the development of new fruits and vegetables. One of the examples in this application is transwitch technology based on molecular biology. This process enhance the sweetness of corn and other vegetables by reducing the enzymatic activity that turn sugar into starch or limiting the enzymatic activity that leads to the production of certain saturated fats. This process using gene transfer method. Other examples are somaclonal variation where it can develop new breeding lines of carrot and celery with improved flavor and manufacturing qualities whereas gametoclonal variation applied in the development of a miniature sweet pepper with reduced seed content.

Next is the production of amino acids. We do know that the role of amino acid in our daily life is to harmonize individual flavors such as MSG in food ingredients which used as a flavor enhancer. Instead, it also used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other industrial raw materials. The method to produce amino acid classified into four phase which is extraction, chemical synthesis, enzyme reactions and fermentation. Innovation in both fermentation and the downstream processing of amino acids could enhance process efficiency, plus for economic optimization since nowadays money is a very valuable thing to be gained. Thus, the invention gives a lot of profit to the amino acids industries as it easier and shortens the time of production.

Other invention in food ingredients is the ultra-high temperature processing or ultra-heat treatment is the partial [|sterilization] of [|food] by heating it for a short time, around 1–2 seconds, at a temperature exceeding 135°C, which is the temperature required to kill spores in milk. The most common UHT product is [|milk], but the process is also used for fruit juices, [|cream] , [|yogurt] , [|wine] , [|soups] , and [|stews]. UHT milk was invented in the 1960s, and became generally available for consumption in 1967’s and hereafter become one of the important needs which containing calcium and lots more nutrition. UHT milk has a typical [|shelf life] of six to nine months, until opened. This product is preferred by consumers especially in hot country with high costs of refrigerated transportation and inefficient cool cabinets which they believed would significantly cut the need for refrigeration, and thus benefit the environment by reducing green house emissions. The last example that contributed profit to food industry is the production of cream. Cream is a [|dairy product] that is composed of the higher- [|butterfat] layer skimmed from the top of [|milk] before [|homogenization]. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using [|centrifuges] called "separators". In many countries, cream is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. Cream can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets. Cream produced by [|cows] grazing on natural [|pasture] often contains some natural [|carotenoid] pigments derived from the [|plants] they eat; this gives the cream a slight yellow tone, hence the name of the yellowish-white color, [|cream]. Cream from cows fed indoors, on grain or grain-based pellets, is white. Cream may have [|thickening agents] and [|stabilisers] added and usually been used as an ingredient in many foods, including [|ice cream], many [|sauces] , [|soups] , stews, puddings, and some [|custard] bases, and is also used for cakes.

To conclude, the current innovation in food ingredient is first to produce more and higher quality food at lower cost. Secondly, to develop alternative sources of food for cost options and variety. Lastly, the invention was applied to develop new ways of process and preserve foods for value-added consumer’s benefits and to use this technology for competitive advantage around the world. For the future prospects, the food technologist will look forward to the continuous application of constantly advancing technology to add greater values to raw food products and other ingredients with eco-friendly technique.