Studies On Preparation Of Acid Proof Caramel Color

With the fast development of food industry, the development of caramel, which is the most widely used pigment in food industry, is facing great challenges. In this paper, the theory and method producing caramel were discussed and the acidproof caramel with high color intensity was prepared through the optimum process conditions. To insure the safety of productions the output of 4-Methylimidazole (4-MeI) during processes was also studied.Firstly, the main reactions during the process, Maillard Reaction and Caramellization were discussed. After the influence of six catalysts to productions'properties and relative theories were also studied, the amide composed of sulfite-ammonia, ammonia and salvolatile was decided as the catalyst of reactions and the ratio of three compounds is 6:1:3. The influences to productions'color intensity and turbidity of the time and temperature of heat preservation, concentration of glucose and dosage of catalyst were analyzed on the basis of mono-factor experiments. Through orthogonal experiment the four influencing factors were optimized and the production was obtained, which color intensity was 163626,pI was between 0.5 and 0.7, turbidity was 76.8.Two mensuration methods of the content of 4-MeI in caramel, high performance chromatography (HPLC) method and spectrophotometer method were compared. While HPLC method has a high sensitivity and good accuracy, it has complicated operation steps and expensive cost. So spectrophotometer method was established because of its low standard deviation and good repeatability. And because the method has simple operating steps and low cost it was used in analyzing influence factors of the 4-MeI's output. And the 4-MeI's output was positively correlated with the temperature of heat preservation and the dosage of catalyst while the optimum values of time of heat preservation and concentration of glucose at certain ranges to 4-MeI's output were 3h and 50%, which should be avoided.Through analyzing the properties of the production which indexes accord with GB8817-2001, it has negative charge and strong ability of acid proof, and has a shelf life of about one year. After the application experiments with the production it can be used in cola drinks and table vinegars with high stability and good effects.