Ingredients in Focus: Supplier uses tomatoes to boost flavor and simplify ingredients list

Lycrored, a wellness company and ingredients manufacturer is currently deep into understanding the benefits and full potential of the tomato. 

Through the production of its taste enhancer products, Lycored’s focus is on improving nutrition profiles, boosting flavor and simplifying ingredient lists. 

The company manufacturers real food ingredients that have a variety of applications, including a Lycofiber to emulate the texture of natural vegetables in food products without the use of emulsifiers and a Sante and CTC, clear tomato concentrate product, to enhance taste and reduce the use of added sugar and sodium. 

The production of Sante, a natural, clean label taste-enhancing tomato serum and CTC, clear tomato concentrate, begins with red tomatoes.

CTC acts as a natural tomato “addback” taste improver, meaning it offers a sweet tomato acidity with a smooth balancing effect by acting as an extender for tomato paste. The company said the ingredient is best used in tomato-based food applications, and brings a balanced flavor profile to savory dishes like soups, condiments and sauces.

“SANTE provides umami and kokumi taste sensations with lower acidity, which decreases the need for and can act as an alternative to salt, added sugars, MSG, yeast and more. For CTC, the combination of brix, natural tomato taste, sweetness and acidity enhances flavor and creates roundness and balance to foods,” said Caroline Schroeder, global head of marketing at Lycored, in a statement to Food Dive. 

“After our harvested red tomatoes are washed, the skins, seeds and stems are removed and repurposed for the animal feed industry.”

The tomatoes are then crushed, pulped, de-aerated, heated and cooled. The fibrous tomato pulp and liquid serum are separated and dried, and the fibrous tomato pulp and liquid serum are separated.

“Both SANTE and CTC are used to improve the eating experience for consumers in both savory and sweet applications,” said Schroeder. 

The company is currently eyeing how to better other ingredients.

“Since bringing these solutions to market, our team has continued testing application opportunities to better understand and uncover ways to empower brands to create innovative product,” said Schroeder.

In addition to reducing sodium and added sugar reduction potential, Sante simultaneously enhances sweetness in formulations due to the taste neutral aspect it provides and works synergistically with other sweetness enhancing ingredients, the company said.

The LycoFiber ingredient can help brands achieve a “unique texture and stability to their products that is not possible with other texturizers,” said Schroeder. 

The ingredient works by “providing a pleasant and natural pulpy fiber mouthfeel, unlike alternative stabilizers like gums and starches that can be slimy.”