Spice extractives are obtained from plant materials by various methods. You may wonder why they are used instead of the actual spice? Well, there are advantages that include standardization of the product as whole spices can be affected by seasonal or year-to-year crop conditions, flavors can be customizable, and they are macroscopically clean and free from viable bacteria.
There are three types of extractives: Essential oils, Oleoresins, and Alcohol extracts.
Essential Oils are the volatile, aromatic components of a spice that is normally extracted by steam distillation. The flavor profile is close to the original but 75 to 100 times stronger than the parent plant. Common essential oils used in food include anise, cinnamon, clove, mint, nutmeg, rosemary, and thyme.
Foods that essential oils are often used to season are spaghetti sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, and salad dressings; whenever there is an oil-soluble solution
Oleoresins are resin-like materials that are obtained when a spice is extracted with the use of a solvent. This solvent is circulated through the ground spice in a closed system. Once the process is complete, the solvent is removed. Oleoresins are 5 to 20 times stronger than the parent plant. Oleoresins will be stored either in a liquid or powder form. Common oleoresins used in food are capsicums, cinnamon, celery seed, ginger, paprika, black pepper, and turmeric. They are often used to create custom blends. Dry oleoresins will be found in dry soup mixes, salad dressing mixes, beverage powders, and other products that are reconstituted with water. Liquid oleoresins are better suited for pickling solutions, sauces, and beverages.
Extracts are obtained by passing alcohol through the plant form to dissolve the primary flavor components. Vanilla extract is one that we are probably all familiar with. I actually make some of my own extracts but that will have to be another post!
Extractives can seem harmless in that it appears like the flavors are just being extracted and flavor profiles can be controlled, but let’s look at some of the challenges that there might be.
In my research of extractions, the greatest concern is with the oleoresins. The solvents used for extraction, the encapsulation products, and the carriers used with them may cause areas of concern.
Many of the solvents used in the extraction process are considered poisonous, some are carcinogens and neurotoxins. The challenge comes because the manufacturers are not required to remove all of the solvent products, 25 to 50 ppm can be left in the finished product. Different solvents also change the composition enough to affect the flavor profile.
|
Solvent |
Residue Levels |
Safety Challenges |
|
Acetone |
30 ppm |
Poisonous |
|
Ethylene dichloride |
30 ppm |
Poisonous, possible carcinogen |
|
Isopropyl alcohol |
50 ppm |
Poisonous |
|
Methyl alcohol |
50 ppm |
Poisonous, found in antifreeze |
|
Methylene chloride |
30 ppm |
Possible carcinogen |
|
Hexane |
25 ppm |
Carcinogen and neurotoxin |
|
Trichloroethyline |
30 ppm |
Carcinogen |
Encapsulation involves mixing the oleoresin with a gum or starch, removing the water, leaving the oleoresin coated with the encapsulation product. Maltodextrin or gums are often used.
Carriers will be used if the oleoresins is kept in liquid form. The oleoresin will be about 3 to 4% of the final product while the carrier will be 96 to 97%. Common carriers are polysorbate 80, monoglyceride, diglyceride, food-grade acids, vegetable oils, or water-soluble gums.
As you can see, the process to obtaining these extractives can leave residue on the final products and some extractives will have added artificial flavors. The greatest challenge is that these extractives don’t have to be on the label and come under the title “natural flavor”; therefore, as a consumer you don’t really know what you are getting. If you or a family member have health challenges that may be affected from any substance used in the processing of extractives, you really don’t know it is in the food. Again, processed food can be a great challenge to our overall health.
Do you read ingredient lists? Have you wondered what all these ingredients are doing to our overall health? Is there an ingredient you have seen on a label and would like me to research it? Let me know in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out all the “What is in Your Food?” posts.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
Heather
Sources:
https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/ingredients/spice-extractives
https://books.google.com/books?id=dfp4b3F0598C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=spice+extractives&source=bl&ots=eKEDOiU1lg&sig=ACfU3U0ZrP4l749FStRoL1uvNbT3pR6gXA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjh-8fVsvfnAhUPnq0KHaH-AO8Q6AEwEHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=spice%20extractives&f=false
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/6437
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3505080A/en
http://my.execpc.com/~jwolf/spices2.html
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2571948A/en
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ie2IxsLTqfgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA87&dq=spice+extractives&ots=3JOImfSTRN&sig=pprywsHNWd-DQZQ1_IViQFGyRpA#v=onepage&q=spice%20extractives&f=false
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=QxIvDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA73&dq=spice+extractives&ots=SBvSeGFmTf&sig=pHA-xm-Hztp5xvay_xCTHX184_8#v=onepage&q=spice%20extractives&f=false
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