Vanilla
Oleoresin
Vanilla Extract
Most of the vanilla extract
for kitchen use is labeled one fold, for industrial use it is labeled 2, 3,
4, 10, 20 or more folds. Vanilla extract should be sugarless when it arrives
in the kitchen with nothing else added to it. The natural vanillin and other
natural substances that make up the vanilla flavor are so complicated and
difficult to imitate that nature does not need a helping hand. Natural
vanillin is sweet and fragrant and it helps preserve the bean when stored.
Vanilla oleoresin is a
total extract of natural vanilla beans and has volatile and non-volatile
components. The more concentrated it is, the more acidic it is. If highly
concentrated, it spreads out the spicy specifications of beans. Very
practically speaking, it extends the use of vanilla to a wider audience.
Just like with vanilla beans, time enhances the flavor of pure vanilla
oleoresin when well stored and renders it almost ageless as it has no more
moisture and only traces of alcohol.
Processing
The preparation of vanilla
oleoresin involves alcohol extraction of chopped beans, followed by removal
of the alcohol by distillation in a vacuum. The oleoresin remaining after
alcohol evaporation is a dark brown viscous liquid.
Extraction is carried out
in a sealed vessel in which the beans are continuously soaked in aqueous
ethanol. This process provides oleoresins with optimal flavor properties,
yield and solubility in aqueous ethanol.Vanilla oleoresin is extracted by
soaking dried and ground beans in alcohol. After decanting and filtering, a
total evaporation of alcohol will be done under a given temperature through
vacuum concentration. This extraction process enables to processor to
extract the heavy constituents of beans such as resins, waxes, gums, and
lipids as well as their volatile and aromatic components.
Among various flavors for use in food preparation,
vanilla has a dominant position. It is the second most expensive spice
traded in the world market. The vanilla flavor industry was once wholely
based on the extraction of natural vanillin from processed beans. The advent
of modern technology to produce synthetic vanillin and ethyl vanillin
provides substitutes that are used widely but cannot replace the true flavor
of natural vanilla extract.
|
|
