The Uses of Herbs & Spices In

Confectionery Industry

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Introduction
 Herbs
 Soft-stemmed, aromatic plants used fresh/dried to flavour and
garnish dishes
 The leaves/ whole of the plant
 eg: pandan leaves, basil, rosemary & sage.

 Spices
 Soft-stemmed, aromatic plants used in nutritionally insignificant
quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavour, colour or
as a preservative
 Part of the plant (bark, seeds, roots, rhizomes, buds, berry, fruit)
 eg: cinnamon, ginger, saffron, sesame, black pepper & paprika
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Introduction (cont.)

 Confectionery
 The set of food where sugar as the principal ingredient,
combined with coloring matter and flavoring and often
with fruit or nuts.

a)Sugar confectionery: sweets, candies, chocolates, etc.

b)Flour confectionery: cakes, pastries, etc.

(Source: Bender, 2005)

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Uses of herbs & spices

 The basic uses of herbs & spices is to make

confectionery more appetizing and palatable
 The uses are for:
 flavoring
 preservatives
 coloring

(Source: Peter, 2004)

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Herbs and Spices as Flavors
 Herbs & spices flavor comes from oils in the cell
walls of the plants

 Chopping or grinding breaks the cell walls and releases

the flavor

 Heat increases the rate at which some herbs release their

flavors

 Used in cooking to give flavor and taste to the food

 Herbs & spices could change plain foods into tasty dishes

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 Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)
 It is typically consumed as a fresh paste, dried powder, slices
preserved in syrup or candy

 The main flavors contributor in ginger are the essential oil and the
oleoresin

 Gives the characteristic of pleasant smell that can be described as

sweet, warm and citrus-like

 The flavor is warm, pleasantly aromatic, not pungent but

occasionally slightly bitter at high concentrations
eg: Hacks Ginger Candies and KissMe Ginger Candies.
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 Spearmint (Mentha Spicata)

 Spearmint leaves can be used whole, chopped, dried and ground,

frozen, preserved in salt, sugar, sugar syrup, alcohol, oil, or dried

 It is used as a flavoring for confectionery

eg: Mint Chocolate

 The chocolate component can be milk chocolate, regular dark

chocolate, or white chocolate; due to this, mint chocolate has no
one specific flavor and so, each chocolate-plus-flavor combination
can be unique.
eg: Haviland Thin Mints and Hershey's York Patties are actually
mint patties.
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 Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
 The extract is derived from dried vanilla fruit pods.

 Vanilla pods have to be cured and dried. These processes

are vital to bring out the sweet aroma and taste of vanilla.

 Vanillin is responsible for the characteristic flavor and

smell of vanilla
 Stemming from the seeds within the fruit pods

 Vanilla flavoring (essence) is the No. 1 ingredient in

confectionery industry (HEWO, 2008).
eg: Ice-creams and chocolates
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Herbs & Spices as Preservatives Agent
1. Antimicrobial agent
 Major role in extending the shelf-life of numerous
snack and convenience foods and have come into
even greater use in recent years as microbial food
safety concerns have increased (Branen et al.,
2002).

2. Antioxidant agent
 Used to prevent lipid and vitamin oxidation in
food products and useful in preserving dry and
frozen foods for an extended period of time.

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Antimicrobial Agent
 The antimicrobial activity of cinnamon, allspices & cloves
is attributed to eugenol (2-methoxy-4-allyl phenol) and
cinnamic aldehyde, which are major constituents of the
volatile oils of these spices (Davidson & Branen, 1993).

 Cinnamon contains 0.5-1.0% volatile oil, which contains

65-75% cinnamic aldehyde & 8% eugenol.

 Allspices contains up to 4.5% volatile oil, of which 80% is

eugenol.

 Clove buds have an average essential oil content of 17%

that is 93-95% eugenol.
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Antioxidant Agent
 The antioxidant activity of rosemary, sage, thyme,
oregano, turmeric, ginger, & cloves reported to be as
effective as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA),
butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) or -tocopherol
(Madhavi et al., 1995).

 Rosemary antioxidant is available commercially as a

fine powder that is soluble in fats & oils and insoluble
in water.

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Herbs and Spices as Colorants
 Herbs & spices are natural colorants

 Used in confectionery industry to make confectioneries

colorful and attractive
annatto

alfalfa

turmeric
saffron

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Saffron (Crocus sativus)
 Taken from the stigmas of the saffron crocus flower (Farrell,1999)

 The stigmas as well as the stalk are dried to form spice

 Contains water soluble crocin which is bright yellow shade in

water.

 Sensitive to pH changes & prone to oxidation

 Moderately resistant to heat (Branen et al, 2002)

 Golden hue color that is used in breads, puddings, cakes and buns
eg: risotto and Cornison saffron cake

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 Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
 Widely cultivated for its rhizomes => bright yellow orange spice

 Considered as “poor man’s saffron” => less expensive than saffron

 Contains curcumin and essential oil (Gerland, 2004)

 Unstable to light & alkaline conditions (Branen et al, 2002)

 Used in flavored milk drinks & desserts as lemon color

 Used in cakes and table jellies as banana color

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Annatto (Bixa orella)
 Have 2 major pigments: a) bixin (oil soluble)
b) norbixin (water soluble)

 Stability
 Highly stable - pH changes and exposure to air
 Moderately stable – heat
 Unstable - strong light

 Precipitates in acidic condition & decolorize by NaO2 (Branen et al, 2002)

 Spice that is better known to Mexican and Latin markets

 Ice cream, jams and yogurts => bright orange color solutions ( Jackson, 1995)

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Paprika (Capsicum annuum)
 Contains capsanthin (dark red), capsorbin (purple red) & ß-
carotene (reddish orange)

 Oil soluble, insensitive to light & stable to high temperature

(Branen et al, 2002)

 Used in sugar confectionery and gelatin desserts

 (Hendry & Houghton, 1996)

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Alfalfa
 Extracts being used is a mixture of chlorophyll, luteins and
carotenoids which gives olive green color

 Stability
 Most stable in neutral or alkaline conditions
 Limited stability to heat and light (Edwards, 2007)

 Used in chewing gums and sugar confectionery (Branen et al,

2002)

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Reference
Bender, D.A. 2005. Dictionary of Food & Nutrition. New York:
Oxford University Press Inc.
Branen, A.L, Davidson, P.M, Salminen, S. & Thorngate III, J.H. 2001.
Food Additives. 2nd Edition Revise and Expanded. New York:
Marcel Dekker Inc.
Davidson, P.M. & Branen, A.L. 1993. Antimicrobials in Foods. 2nd
edition. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.
Edwards W. P. (2007) The Science Of Bakery Products.
Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.
Farrell, K.T. (1999) Spices, Condiments & Cloves Seasonings
Edition 2. New York: A Springer Publication.
Garland, S. (2004) The Complete Book Of Herbs & Spice.
London: Frances Lincoln Ltd.
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Reference
Hendry, G. A. F. & Houghton, J.D. 1996. Natural Food Colorants
Edition 2. London: Springer Publication.
Hewo.com. 2008. Vanilla- The Sweet Orchid With Many Uses. Online
on 2nd September 2009- http://www.hewo.com
Jackson, E.B. 1995. Sugar Confectionery Manufacture 2nd Ed. New
York: Aspen Publications.
Madhavi, D.L, Deshpande, S.S. & Salunkhe, D.K. 1995. Food
Antioxidants: Technological, Toxicological, and Health
Perspectives. Marcel Dekker Inc: New York.
Peter, K.V. 2004. Handbook of Herbs & Spices. England: Woodhead
Publishing Ltd.

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