Dubbed Grindsted Pectin Prime 541 – Grindsted is the name of the town where Danisco was founded in 1924 – the pectin can be used in reduced sugar fruit spreads of between 30 and 45º Brix, a unit of measurement used by the food industry for sugar.
One degree Brix is equivalent to one gram of sucrose in 100 g of liquid solution.
The company said it could help clean up labels by removing the need for calcium salts, which may be added to low-sugar jams for texturising purposes. Pectin, however, must still be declared on the ingredients list.
Global product manager for pectin at DuPont Valentina Gizzi said: “Natural batch-to-batch variations in the calcium content of fruit can have a major impact on the texture of the spread.
“In reduced sugar systems, a limited amount of calcium is added to increase the viscosity and the set temperature of the jam and hence to facilitate the suspension of the fruit and achieve a more appealing texture."
The natural raw material present in the cell wall structure of every fruit and plant to varying degrees, pectin is usually made on a commercial scale using citrus peels.
Grindsted can also be used in reduced-sugar spreads made with fruit juice concentrates and sweeteners, or other fruit-based products such as toppings, fruit sauces, fillings and ice cream ripples.
The company said it was developed specifically to meet customer requests, with demand principally coming from European manufacturers of fruit preparations, jams and jelly.
“But interest is intensifying globally as consumers are looking for healthier options and the concern for the negative impact from a high sugar diet is increasing,” Gizzi added.