Common food raw materials – Plant-Based Beverages

• Oat used in 32 products.

WHAT IS and the REASONS to use OAT:

Oat and oat flour. Used to produce determined types of beverages, giving them different characteristics, mainly body and aroma.

Notes

Oat is considered a very nutritive cereal, because it contains calcium, iron, proteins, in addition to vitamins, carbohydrates and fibers. Oat is currently in evidence due to its highly benefits from soluble fiber called beta-glucona, which is related to a good intestinal functioning, the decrease of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, and its maintenance within appropriate levels.

• 25 products use cocoa by-products.

WHAT ARE and the REASONS to use COCOA BY-PRODUCTS:

Cocoa in conventional powder and organic powder. Used to give the products different characteristics, mainly structure, flavor, and aroma.

Notes

The almonds from cocoa tree fruits (Theobroma cacao L.) are fermented and then are dried, Toasted, grounded in order to obtain the cocoa mass, and liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa powder is obtained from it and, mixed to other ingredients, give origin to various types of chocolate.

• 13 products use fruits.

WHAT ARE and the REASONS to use OTHER FRUITS:

• 1 product uses carob.

WHAT IS and the REASONS to use CAROB:

Carob is the fruit from carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). Used to produce different types, flavors and textures in the products. In addition, they promote the nutritional enrichment and aggregate fibers and nutrients.

Notes

Carob is low calories, is rich in fibers, antioxidants, calcium and magnesium.

• 2 products use yam.

WHAT IS and the REASONS to use YAM:

Yams are edible rhizomes of the plant genus Dioscorea, of the family Dioscoriaceae, found in the nature in many sizes. Used to give flavor, structure, and aroma to the products.

Notes

Yam is a source of dietary fibers, potassium, vitamins C and B6 and manganese.

• 41 products use oils.

WHAT ARE and the REASONS to use OILS:

Soybean, sunflower (conventional and organic) coconut, palm, and chia oil. The presence of oils contributes to the sensory characteristics, being determining to the rheology, texture, flavor and creaminess.

Notes

Oils can be obtained by mechanical procedures, which involve, for instance, increasing the temperature and pressure and by chemical processes, in which solvents are used in the extracting and refining stages.

• 42 products use sugar; 1, coconut sugar and 21, demerara sugar.

WHAT ARE and the REASONS to use SUGAR, COCONUT SUGAR AND ORGANIC DEMERARA SUGAR:

Sugar refers to sucrose, extracted from sugarcane and beetroot and marketed in liquid and solid forms. Coconut sugar is a product obtained through the coconut tree sap, that passes through a heating process to remove the water until it is totally dehydrated. Demerara sugar has the flavor and appearance sililar to crystal sugar, its has a golden or brown tone because its purity degree is lower than the crystal sugar. Used to sweeten the product, aggregate structure, give flavor, color, and aroma.

Notes

Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose, being the type of sugar most used by the food industry.

And glucose is a monosaccharide, a sugar formed by a single molecule.

Coconut sugar contains 80% of sucrose.

• 81 products use sodium chloride; and 3, Himalayan pink salt.

WHAT IS and the REASONS to use SALT:

Kitchen salt (Sodium chloride, NaCl); and the Himalayan pink salt. Salt interferes on the flavor and can help in the preservation.

Notes

Himalayan salt is a mineral extracted from the saline rocks, or halita, originated from the Punjab region, no Pakistan. It can be a mix of salts, one gram of it has about 230 mg of sodium. Even though there are numerous claims attributed to Himalayan salt consumption, there is no evidence that it is indeed healthier than the kitchen salt.