Pavan Group, a worldwide provider of process technology solutions for the food industry, recently collaborated with Novozymes to assess the effect that Novozymes Acrylaway® has on extruded pelleted potato snacks. And this collaboration proved once more that innovative thinking and enzymes can help future-proof the food processing industry.
Pavan was founded over 60 years ago, initially specializing in pasta production and diversifying into snack pellets and breakfast cereal production during the late 1970s. The company’s recent trials together with Novozymes have focused on its technological developments in extrusion equipment, which offers the perfect processing environment in which to add Acrylaway when creating snack pellets. Extruded potato snacks are primarily based on potato-based raw materials such as potato flakes, potato granules, and potato starch and are manufactured by low-shear extruders. Snack pellets are dry, semifinished products that need to be expanded by frying or hot air and flavored to create the final snack product.
To develop snack pellets, the mixture needs to be cooked, usually using extrusion cooking technology, and shaped and dried to make a compact product that can easily be preserved for up to a year under normal storage conditions at room temperature. These snack pellets offer snack manufacturers a multitude of benefits – including the possibility of using a wide range of raw materials, such as cereals, legumes, and tubers in addition to potato granules and flakes, and greater flexibility in the variety of potential shapes. Pavan’s technology enables snack pellet manufacturers to pass on these significant advantages to their customers and, combined with Novozymes’ know-how, the ability to create snack pellets with reduced levels of acrylamide.
Innovation and enzymes – The perfect partnership
“At Pavan, we strive to offer our customers innovative ways to add value to existing products,” says Luisito Virtucio, Innovative Products Manager in Pavan’s Research and Development department. “Whether it’s adding antioxidants or soluble fibers, or – as in this case – a solution to reduce acrylamide, we want to ensure that our customers can create snack pellets with a difference.”
Such continuous innovation is key to Pavan’s values – and one of the reasons why it is a natural collaboration partner for Novozymes.“We’ve learned so much about acrylamide reduction through our relationship with Novozymes. Whether it has been working with Peter Müller from Customer Solutions or having Benjamin Thieringer’s meticulous support with the analytical work,” continues Luisito Virtucio, “we couldn’t have progressed so much in this area without them.”
The versatility offered by snack pellets means that this market, traditionally based in Europe, has spread to Asia, Mexico, and the Middle East. “We’re not just selling machinery to our customers, we’re also selling ideas for new products,” says Luisito Virtucio. “Valin, our industrial partner, produces these new snacks based on our prototypes. Our potential customers can buy these ready-made snack pellets and experience exactly what our technology can achieve.”
Pavan believes that its customers are very much aware of the acrylamide debate and have shown an interest in suggested reduction methods.“Many of our customers have specifically asked what we’re doing when it comes to reducing acrylamide,” says Luisito Virtucio. “As consumers are becoming more aware of the issue of acrylamide, manufacturers are growing more concerned about how to reduce it effectively.”
Pavan recently introduced new innovation to the extrusion cooking process, which includes a screw configuration that significantly reduces the mechanical energy applied to the dough. “It’s very easy to use Acrylaway with our technology,” says Theresa Piromalli, Analytical Laboratory Technician at Pavan. “The solution is added to the dough mixture during the preparatory stage, so it works perfectly with our process,” agrees Germana Zurlo, head of Pavan’s Analytical Laboratory.
This advanced technology appeals to snack pellet manufacturers who are seeking to maintain the nutritional value and flavor of the natural raw material – and the addition of Acrylaway offers entirely new innovation to a high-quality product.
Results worth sharing
During the Novozymes–Pavan production trials on the effect of Acrylaway on potato-based snacks, the acrylamide levels in the final snack products were analyzed by an independent certified laboratory. “One particular trial used four different Acrylaway dosages,” says Peter Müller, Customer Solutions Manager at Novozymes. “And depending on the dosage, it led to an acrylamide reduction of 44–94%.”
Acrylamide in foods is formed as a by-product of the Maillard reaction during frying or baking. The amino acid asparagine reacts at temperatures above 120 °C and at low moisture with reducing sugars such as glucose and fructose to form acrylamide. Acrylaway converts the amino acid asparagine into the amino acid aspartic acid, thereby reducing the level of acrylamide without altering the tempting taste and appearance of the end product. The asparagine levels remaining in the potato-based snack pellets after treatment with Acrylaway were analyzed in-house at Novozymes, Switzerland, and they demonstrated a very good correlation between asparagine and acrylamide reduction.
Fortifying the future through reducing acrylamide
As the public eye is focusing once more on acrylamide and consumers are growing ever more conscious about what they eat, manufacturers are posed with the challenge of how to effectively reduce its concentration in their products. Asparaginases such as Acrylaway are one of the more appealing solutions suggested by the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) in its acrylamide mitigation toolbox. Their allure is due to the fact that they work effectively, yet enable the final products to retain their tempting flavor and appealing look.
The recent trials by Pavan and Novozymes prove once again that this asparaginase truly works – and preserves the taste, texture, and color of the final product. With innovative enzymatic solutions such as Acrylaway and progressive companies such as the Pavan Group combining their strengths, a proven solution to significantly reduce acrylamide in extruded potato-based snacks is available for snack producers.