Gellan – sources, health benefits, nutrients, uses and constituents at NaturalPedia.com
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 by Jhoanna Robinson
http://www.naturalpedia.com/gellan-gum-sources-health-risks.html
Gellan is a natural polysaccharide that is manufactured by the bacterium Pseudomonas elodea from starch. It is a kind of indigestible carbohydrate, a mixture of polysaccharides composed of glucose, glucuronic acid, and rhamnose.
It was first discovered by Atlanta, Georgia-based hydrocolloids producer CP Kelco in 1977 and was first approved for food use in 1988, garnering full approval of the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1992.
Gellan has also been approved by the Department of Agriculture for use in inorganic foods; as a matter of fact many inorganic food copanies have been veering towards gellan as it is not made from animal and can be considered environmentally-friendly.
Gellan has been certified as safe for use in food for over 30 years now by countries – aside from the U.S. – such as Japan, Canada, China, and Korea, member-countries of the European Union, and the World Health Organization (WHO). As a matter of fact, it has an “Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)” status from the Joint Food and and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.
Too much gellan intake, however, can cause abdominal bloating, excessive gas (flatulence), and diarrhea or loose stools.
List of known nutrients
- Tricalcium Phosphate
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid)
- Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
- Vitamin D
Medicinal uses for gellan
Gellan can lower the total cholesterol levels of an adult by 10 percent, a study showed.
Body systems supported by gellan
Gellan is good for the digestive system. It bulks up stool.
Ways to use gellan
Gellan acts as a thickening agent. It also has its uses in creating gels, adding texture, and suspending ingredients or nutrients. These properties make gellan conducive for use with products that have unique shapes and whose nutrients or ingredients must remain mixed.
Such properties make gellan perfect for dairy and non-dairy drinks, dressings, juices, milks, bakery products and filings, dairy-based desserts and flans, fruit sauces and spreads, nutritional products, sour creams, jams, and yogurts.
The consistency of a certain food or a beverage is dependent on how much gellan is added to it. For a dairy alternative beverage, very low levels of gellan give rise to a unique suspension system that keeps soluble particles – like calcium – in suspension, making sure you use all of the essential nutrients that were mixed into the product.
Where to learn more
- Gum additives in food: What you need to know and watch out for
- You Are Not Drinking Real Coco! Starbucks’ Fake Coconut Milk
- Another solid reason to avoid Starbucks: Their new ‘coconut milk’ is low-quality junk food
Summary
Gellan can lower the total cholesterol levels of an adult by 10 percent.
Gellan is good for the digestive system.
Gellan acts as a thickening agent.
Sources include:
Tagged Under: Tags: gellan
