The impact of high-speed blending on baby food nutrition

Release details - Nutrition in baby food is essential for the growth and development of infants and children. The food delivered to infants and young children usually needs to be highly refined to aid in digestion and absorption, and high-speed stirring is a common approach. And the following physical and chemical change under fast mixing could even affect the nutrition of the food. This paper discusses the influences of high-speed stirring on nutrition such as vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats, analyzes the corresponding mechanism of action, aimed to provide scientific reference for baby food processing and home homemade from the point of view of nutrition.

I. Principle and application of high speed mixing:

High-Speed mixing means efficient crushing, mixing, and emulsifying food particles using a high-speed rotating blade or blender. High-speed mixing is mainly used in baby food processing in the following aspects:

Food Homogenization: use uniform stirred to form a delicate mud or paste, mixed evenly, so that the different texture of food ingredients, easy for infants to swallow and digests.

Affect application: The compound degree of part undergoing tactile stimulation is reduced.

High-speed stirring destroys the plant cell wall, release the nutrient in the cell, therefore improve the nutrient utilization.

Second, the influence of high-speed stirring on vitamins:

Vitamins are currently a class of organic compounds required to stay in normal physiological activity of the human body. Vitamin C, all of which can be damaged by exposure to extreme heat for prolonged periods, including, high-speed or intense heating process.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant but is easily degraded by oxidation. During the high-speed stirring process, because the air is mixed into the material and enters the high-speed stirring machine at high speed, and the action of the metal blade is catalytic, the oxidation rate of vitamin C is accelerated, and the content decreases accordingly. [1]

Vit B group (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, etc.): Vit B group can easily get decomposed to acidic or alkaline conditions. If the pH of the ingredients changes in the process of high-speed mixing, it may result in the loss of vitamin B.[2]

Vitamin A (retinol): Vitamin A is light unstable and can easily be isomerized by oxidation. | Under high-speed stirring conditions, high transparent or illuminating containers may cause the loss of vitamin A [3].

Third, effect of high-shear stirring on minerals:

Minerals are a group of inorganic salts used in building human tissues and regulating physiological functions. Compared to vitamins, minerals are more stable and are less easily lost during normal food processing. During high-speed stirring, the solubility and bioavailability of minerals could be altered.

Increase the solubility of minerals: high creative stirring can crush the ingredients into very small particles, increase the contact area between minerals and digestive liquid, which will help its dissolution and absorption. [4]

The transformation of mineral substance: High-speed stirring may promote the formation of complexes or chelates between minerals and organic matter, which affects their biological availability. The cause, for example, is high-speed agitation, it can cause calcium to combine with phytic acid, reducing the absorption rate of calcium. [5]

4 The protein effect of high-speed stirring:

Protein is an organic macromolecule which contributes in human tissue formation and physiological functioning. Exposure to high speed stirring may cause protein denaturation and degradation (Ma et al., 2020), which could consequently decrease nutritional values.

Protein denaturation: The shear force generated by high-speed stirring can, accompanied by the increased temperature, leads to conformational change of protein secondary and tertiary structures which will lead to the formation of denatured protein. Severe denaturation but moderate protein digestibility. [6]

Amino Acid Destruction: In extreme conditions, turbulent flow promotes protein hydrolysis or oxidation, destroying amino acid structure and decreasing protein nutrition. But that isn’t the typical process in conventional baby food.processing.

Fifth, the influence of high-speed agitation on grease:

Fat is one of the main sources of energy for the human organism and plays a crucial role in a whole bunch of physiological functions. Increased fat oxidation at high stirring speed leads to the generation of toxic products.

Fat Oxidation: During high-speed stirring, a large amount of oxygen is present and metal ions may be catalytic, which makes unsaturated fatty acids susceptible to oxidation and forms by-products of adverse substances, such as peroxides and aldehydes. [7]

Improve fat emulsification: high-speed stirring, will make fat into a small drop, a stable emulsion system, can help to improve the Digestion fat absorption rate. [8]

(6) The means used to minimize the tare of high-speed mixing.

Steps To Minimize Nutrient Loss In Baby Food Due To Blending

Avoid over-mixing: Use the lowest speed that achieves something approaching the desired effect.

Reduce mixing time: Minimize mixing time, thus preventing oxidation and decomposition of vitamins.

Inhibit fat oxidation and vitamin degradation: Correct Amount of antioxidants (such as vitamin C, vitamin E) added during Slow speed mixing.

Two features: Used in the solution of nitrogen and other inert gas protection: in stirring, the oxygen content decreasing, lowing oxidation reaction.

Opt for the right material: Mix up using stainless steel or glass mixing containers, as metal ions catalytically destroy vitamins.

Dark containers: Store stirred baby food in dark containers to minimize the loss of vitamin A.

Vii. Conclusion:

High-speed stirring is an integral step in baby food processing, and its effect on the nutritional composition should not be neglected.