Peanut butter has been one of the favourites spreads aming people of all ages. The roasted nutty flavour provides a unique yet pleasant mouthfeel. Peanut butter is a rich source of many nutrients like Vitamin B-6, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Zinc, Protein Niacin etc. providing various health benefits like:
- Weight loss: There has been enough evidence on the positive effects of weight control. Its high satiety helps control the portions you take and keeps you fuller longer. Further, it has a low glycemic index and doesn't result in a sugar spike. Peanut butter is rich in nutrients a good amount of proteins, unsaturated fats, fibre etc, which helps you keep healthy
- Enhancing heart health: The presence of compounds like zinc and magnesium helps significantly improve heart health
- Other benefits: maintaining bone health and prevent osteoporosis, improved immune function, bodybuilding etc.
Challenges in Manufacturing
The primary challenge faced is that the unstabilised peanut butter is more prone to oil separation. This also limits its spreadability.
When the roasted nut is churned and mixed with its ingredients and allowed to rest, one expects a smooth firm buttery texture. However, when this unstabilized mixture is kept at a standstill for some time the peanut chunks tend to precipitate at the bottom forming a hard layer and the oil separates and becomes flowy. This affects the overall shelf lif3e of the product, in turn affecting consumer experience.
The solution to this problem is the addition of stabilisers like Distilled monoglyceride commonly called DMG (e471). DMG is a form of an emulsifier that helps keep the peanut solids and the oil stable in one mixture for a significantly greater amount of time. Apart from this DMG also helps to increase the buttery texture and add to the creaminess of the peanut butter over a wide range of temperatures. The stabilizer also improves the mouthfeel of the product in turn enhancing the product experience
DMG can be used independently as a stabilizer in peanut butter when used in the percentage of 1.8%-2.0% levels. It should be noted that the stabilizer should not be added in excess amounts as it’ll affect the overall texture of the product making it firmer and reducing the extent of spreadability.
Visit our section of Emulsifiers to find out more about DMG and other related emulsifiers
