By Arne Pedersen, Product & Application Manager, Bakery & Confectionery, Palsgaard A/S. Emulsifier YN (ammonium phosphatides, E442) is known to be the best and most efficient alternative to lecithin (E322), in both chocolate- and compound products. The truth is that it is much more than an alternative as this taste and odourless ingredient significantly outperforms lecithin in terms of viscosity reduction. Apart from significant cost-in-use savings it opens up for new interesting possibilities such as low fat products and optimization of recipes. This article discusses the development of Emulsifier YN, compares its functionality to lecithin and offers suggestions to recipe optimization. Historical background Back in the 1950s there was a growing demand for an improved alternative to soya lecithin, which is widely used in various chocolate recipes. Lecithin has been used in chocolate since 1930 when Hanseatische Mühlenwerke Akt Ges. filed a patent on the use of lecithin in chocolate. Since then it has been widely used in this application and is in general a highly functional and efficient ingredient when it comes to adjusting flow properties and reducing fat content in chocolate. Many manufactures, however, experienced some serious draw backs when using lecithin. The lecithin used in the confectionery industry is mainly derived from soya beans and as such quality CH2OCOR1 CHOCOR2 O CH2OPOCH2CH2N+(CH3)3 OH Figure 1: Phosphatidyl choline, main fraction in lecithin. CH2-O-R1 CH-O-R2 O CH2-O-P-O-NH4 OH Figure 2: Emulsifier YN - Ammonium phosphatide. depends on the natural variations in the harvest of beans leading to variations in the active components. The processing and purity of the product are also important factors which have an influence on the functionality of the lecithin. The mentioned variations in functionality may cause production problems due to variations in flow properties of the chocolate. Another very serious reason for wishing for an improved alternative is the taste of lecithin. Especially milk chocolates are very sensitive and in the typically very rich and milky chocolates in the UK the combination of lecithin and milk chocolate could result in a taste in the direction “grass” or “hay” during storage of the chocolate. With a special focus on removal of the off-taste one chocolate manu- facturer, Cadbury Brothers Ltd. decided to solve this problem and initiated the development of an improved alternative to soya lecithin. The idea was to make a product containing molecules similar to the most important component in soya lecithin called phosphatidyl choline. Cadbury Brothers Ltd. filed a patent in 1962 and the development resulted in a product today known under several names such as ammonium phosphatides, ammonium salts of phosphatidic acids or Emulsifier YN – the latter will be used through this article. Palsgaard Technical Paper - April 2012 Emulsifier YN - The unique ingredient in chocolate production 2
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