Various Types of Carrageenans
Carrageenan is extracted from red seaweed which is used in the Far East and Europe as an essential food ingredient. If you take your time to check on various products, you will be shocked that various products contain carrageenan. This shows that carrageenan is of great importance. That is why you should take your time to investigate and know essential information concerning carrageenan.  When you are conducting your research, you will realize that carrageenan’s primary application is in meat and dairy products. This is because they have active bindings when it comes to food proteins.
Before you rush out there to look for products with carrageenan, it is essential to understand that carrageenans are of various forms. Also, they are identified based on the chemical structure they form. The following therefore are some different types of carrageenan.
Iota carrageenan
When Iota carrageenan is combined with calcium salts, they end up forming a strong gel that stays elastic in texture, and it is soluble in water. Mostly, it is applied in pharmaceutical industry to act as a neuraminidase inhibitor in the production of nasal spray. Also, the iota carrageenan gel can break apart more especially during the mechanical action. This gel is helpful when it comes to cold-filled products.
Kappa carrageenan
This is the most popular type of carrageenan that is also known as the food grade. The kappa carrageenan produces a stable gel when combined with the potassium salts. Also, if you go ahead to mix it with the locust beans, it will end up forming a brittle gel. Kappa carrageenan is widely known because it is used as a stabilizing agent in most dairy products.
Lambda carrageenan
This is another highly sulfated form of carrageenan that is used in most dairy products. Also, this type of carrageenan differs from the above two kinds, and mainly it is applied to obtain high viscous property in dairy products. Lambda is soluble in cold water whereas the two forms are soluble in only hot water. Therefore, you need to understand these various types of carrageenans before you purchase a product that has it.
Semi-refined and refined carrageenan
It is crucial also to understand that carrageenans are further classified into semi-refined and refined types. The refined forms are produced from a complete filtration procedure whereas the semi-refined ones are extracted from a kind of a seaweed known as Eucheuma Cottonii. Lastly, carrageenan is available in various forms with different significance in their industrial applications.…