Carrageenan is a seaweed-derived product used as a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier in food and non-food products. It has three classes, each with different gel strengths. It is produced in refined and semi-refined forms. Degraded carrageenan can cause gastrointestinal problems, but undegraded carrageenan is safe for human consumption.
Carrageenan is a product derived from certain types of red algae, a seaweed found along the coasts of North America and Europe. The product is often used as a thickening agent in place of animal products such as gelatin, which is extracted from animal bones. It is a common ingredient in many gelatinous foods and products, and also has applications in biochemistry. Carrageenan is nearly identical to agar, another substance derived from several species of red algae.
it is used
In foods and other products, carrageenan functions as a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier, meaning it helps keep mixed ingredients from separating. It gives foods a soft texture and accentuates their flavour. It is often used in dairy-based foods, such as ice cream, yogurt and cottage cheese, because it reacts well with milk proteins. Carrageenan is also found in gelatin, pie filling, chocolate, salad dressings, and even as a substitute for fat in processed meat. As it comes from seaweed, it can be used as a gelatin substitute for vegetarian and vegan products.
Other non-food products, such as toothpaste, personal lubricants and deodorant gels may also include carrageenan. It has the same function as food: to thicken and stabilize the product and make it smoother. Some types of firefighting foam also use carrageenan, which thickens the foam and helps it become stickier and more effective. In chemistry, gels made with it can be used to transport microbes or immobilize cells.
Actions
There are three main classes of carrageenan – kappa, iota and lambda – each of which have different gel strengths. The kappa class produces a solid, solid gel when mixed with water and is known to react well with milk proteins. The iota class produces a soft gel when mixed with water and tends to gel more easily when combined with calcium. The lambda class does not gel in water, even if in the right concentration it will gel in milk; it is more often used as a thickener than to gel a product.
Traditionally, the seaweed species used to make carrageenan was Irish moss or Chondrus crispus. In modern times, class kappa is mainly produced by the species Eucheuma cottonii, while iota comes from Eucheuma denticulatum and lambda from species of the genus Gigartina. Other types of red algae are also used, producing different amounts of each class.
Production
Carrageenan is produced in two forms: refined and semi-refined. To produce the refined form, the seaweed is cooked in an alkaline solution for several hours, then the solid parts of the seaweed are filtered out. The carrageenan is concentrated and removed from the solution, then dried. This method of extracting the substance has been used for hundreds of years, although it is slow and expensive.
To produce the semi-refined form, the seaweed is cooked in an alkaline solution that contains potassium hydroxide. The potassium prevents the carrageenan from dissolving in the solution, but allows most of the other parts of the seaweed, such as proteins and carbohydrates, to dissolve. The algae are then removed from the solution, washed and dried. What’s left is carrageenan and cellulose, which is ground into a powder. Since it does not gel with potassium, lambda class cannot be produced by this method.
You can make carrageenan at home by boiling Irish moss for about 20-30 minutes. By the time the mixture has cooled and the moss has been removed, much of the carrageenan will have dissolved into the water, leaving a gelled substance.
Health concerns
Several studies in the early 2000s suggested that a certain type of carrageenan — degraded carrageenan, which has been hydrolyzed or broken down by acid — could cause gastrointestinal problems, including cancers. The degraded type is not typically used in food. In fact, only the undegraded variety has been deemed safe for human consumption by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and approved for use in food by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.
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