The Beginning

In the late 1990s researchers at the University of Minnesota were approached by a filtration company who wanted to create a high surface area ingredient from agricultural by-products. The researchers struggled to create a truly useful product until 2003, when they decided to use citrus pulp as the raw material. They developed a biological processing technology that helped create an all-natural fiber with unique and impressive functionality. The resulting ingredients commercially debuted in 2004 when value added applications began to emerge. The manufacturing techniques were exclusively licensed to Fiberstar and a line of products was created to form the Citri-Fi brand. Citri-Fi is now being integrated into various food applications as manufacturers find it is the perfect all natural solution to improving food quality and saving costs. We have outlined how Citri-Fi has helped one customer achieve their food application goals.

An Innovator

With a record of predicting consumer demands for more healthy foods, Aunt Millie's is a proven innovator in manufactured bakery. The brand removed transfats from their products before the issue transfixed the nation. The bakery made the switch to one hundred percent whole grains long before industry leaders. For their next move, Aunt Millie's wanted to get a jump on the competition by reinventing an old idea.

An Old Idea

 

Bakeries have always used large amounts of oil to create desirable and shelf stable muffins, but this solution sacrificed the products overall nutrition. Aunt Millie's knew health conscious consumers were passing on their packaged muffins because of the high calorie and fat content associated with these products. Aunt Millie's wanted to dramatically reduce the fat in their muffins with the ultimate goal of increasing sales.

Fat reduction is an old idea, but a persistent challenge. Aunt Millie's knew that high calorie muffins were hard to sell. Customers feel that low calorie products often compromise taste and texture. The food technologists at the bakery wanted a solution that appealed to their health conscious and taste sensitive customers. Satisfying both requirements is an extraordinary challenge, and for Aunt Millie's just satisfactory work wouldn't cut it. The research and development team needed a fat reduction solution that would match the principles in their mission statement. Aunt Millie's is guided by their, "passion to exceed customer expectations in baking healthful and delicious products."

 

A Solution

Aunt Millie's search for a reduced fat solution ended when the bakery was introduced to Citri-Fi. This multi-functional fiber became the key ingredient to unlocking the low fat riddle. The technical staff at Fiberstar and Aunt Millie's worked to integrate Citri-Fi into the muffin recipes. What resulted was a batch made in muffin heaven. With Citri-Fi, Aunt Millie's was able to reduce the fat in their blueberry, coffee cake, chocolate chip and brownie muffins by up to 27%. This satisfied the FDA's requirements for a reduced fat product. Ray Radalia, technical services director at Aunt Millie's, was particularly impressed with the texture of the reduced fat muffins.

 "It holds water and keeps the product tender and somewhat film-forming, which gives you that same mouth impression-it's just as tender as with oil." - As noted in Culinology magazine, December 2008

Citri-Fi allowed the technical team at Aunt Millie's to squeeze fat out of the muffin while holding onto flavor and texture. Aunt Millie's and Citri-Fi created a commercially successful and truly delicious low fat muffin. Because of its high water binding capacity, the small amounts of Citri-Fi needed had no effect on flavor. Replacing the canola oil in the recipe lowered production costs for the bakery. With the reduced amount of oil, Aunt Millie's technologists found the natural flavors of the blueberries and cinnamon were better expressed. Rod Radalia explained how this functional fiber worked with Aunt Millie's muffins, "Citri-Fi was a very good fit for our muffins. It gives you a nice volume. There are certain muffins on the market that you bit into, and it's soft, but because it's so high in fat and oil, you set it on a napkin, and the napkin is greasy. With Citri-Fi, we were able to reduce that." - As noted in Culinology magazine, December 2008

 

An Ingredient

The patented bio-processing used to create Citri-Fi considerably alters the cellular structure of the natural citrus fiber. With its high internal surface area, Citri-Fi binds moisture more effectively than all other natural fibers. The manufacturing process uses no solvents or chemicals. Citri-Fi is GRAS, gluten free, kosher, non-allergenic and comes as a free flowing powder. For bakery applications Citri-Fi is labeled "citrus fiber." For meat applications Citri-Fi is labeled "citrus flour" or "dried orange pulp."

When it was introduced at the Food Ingredient Europe show in 2007 Citri-Fi won the silver medal for most innovative ingredient. Citri-Fi can tightly bind large amounts of water through freezing and baking. This enhanced functionality allows products to maintain their original flavor profile while it provides a superior moisture management solution.

 

When Citri-Fi is added into a recipe it can replace a portion of the formulas oil or fat. In reduced fat applications Citri-Fi is used to bind extra water in a formula. For Aunt Millie's this resulted in a moist, high quality muffin with reduced costs.

Other manufacturers are using Citri-Fi to bind free water to increase yields and improve quality. Citri-Fi is being used in processed meats, meat injections, dairy products, various baked goods, cakes, pastries and sauces.

In processed meats Citri-Fi is being used to bind water more tightly throughout the cooking process, this results in increased yields. Bread manufacturers are using Citri-Fi as a moisture management solution. Citri-Fi helps create a more desirable product by increasing the quality of the texture and limiting moisture migration. With the best cost in use available, Citri-Fi is being used in salad dressing, marinades and mayonnaise as an effective all natural emulsifier.