Glossary of food & beverage ingredient terms
C
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrate |
A chemical compound containing on the elements Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Cellulose, starch, sugars and polyols are typical examples. All carbohydrates contribute approximately 4Kcal/gram. |
| Chemically-modified starch |
A starch which has been treated with chemicals so that some hydroxyl groups have been replaced by (usually) ester or ether groups. Crosslinking, in which two hydroxyl groups on neighboring starch molecules are linked chemically, is also a form of chemical modification. Every very low levels of chemical modification can fundamentally change the rheological-, physical-, and chemical properties of starch. |
| Citric acid |
An odorless, colorless naturally occuring organic acid with the empirical formula C6H8O7 in the anhydrous form. Citric acid widely distributed in plants and animals and plays a key role in fundamental metabolic processes such as the oxidative breakdown of dietary proteins, carbohydrates and fats. |
| Citric acid [anhydrous] |
This grade of citric acid with less than 0.5% moisture and is 99.5% (minimum) pure. |
| Citric acid [monohydrate] |
The moisture content of the Citric Acid monohydrate is 8.8% (maximum) but this may change on storage due to efflorescence. |
| Cold water soluble starch |
This term is often used to denote pregelatinized, cold water swelling, or cold water dispersable starches. |
| Cook-ups |
starches that must be cooked to provide viscosity or thickening for a food system. |
| Crosslinked starch |
Starch which has been treated with a bi- or polyfunctional reagent by the manufacturer so that a small number of the starch polymer chains are chemically linked by the cross linking reagent moiety. Crosslinking partially inhibits granule swelling on gelatinization and gives increased stability to acid environments, heat treatment, and shear forces. Extremely low levels of crosslinking are effective in achieving these objectives. Crosslinking is widely used to prepare chemically-modified starches for the processed food industry. |
| Crosslinking |
the linking together of starch chains using a chemical reagent. This strengthens the granule and reduces both the rate and the degree of granule swelling and subsequent disintegration. Thus, crosslinked starches are less sensitive to processing conditions than native starch granules. |