Texture and Fiber: A Match Made in R&D (and Marketing) Heaven
Key Highlights
- Texture is a key factor in consumer satisfaction, but achieving it with synthetic ingredients is not.
- Fiber is skyrocketing in popularity this year, and most fibers can also improve texture.
- Fiber ingredients like citrus fiber and breadfruit flour are gaining popularity as natural texturizers that support clean-label trends.
This will be a watershed year for texture’s role in food and beverage products. At this point, texture – when provided by such ingredients as emulsifiers (lecithin), xanthan or guar gums or carrageenan – faces a dangerous headwind in the current debate over ultraprocessed foods. Simply putting the word “modified” in front of cornstarch raises red flags.
Fiber to the rescue! Consumers can’t get enough of it lately, as it threatens to push protein out of the spotlight as the added ingredient of the year. It always has been a contributor of texture, sometimes unwittingly, but now fiber’s various sources are being eyed as wholesome and natural-sounding contributors to the texture of food and even beverage products.
“Fiber can be a good solution for texture,” says Melissa Kaczmarczyk, nutrition business partner-North America at Tate & Lyle. “Soluble and insoluble fibers can act as functional fibers, building back texture in sugar and calorie reduced applications. Polysaccharide size, viscosity, as well as solubility impact whether a fiber adds texture elements in application.”
Fiber’s status as not just a benign additive but a sought-after supplement makes it an appealing texturizer. “In the U.S., citrus fiber is one of the highest scoring ingredients,” says Kaczmarczyk, “with 40% of consumers likely/very likely to buy a product with citrus fiber on the label, despite only 26% of consumers being aware of citrus fiber as an ingredient.”
Tate & Lyle’s Artesa chickpea protein and flour contribute not just fiber but also protein content while building back consumer-preferred mouthfeel in health-forward products.
Also see “Fiber Is Finally Getting the Spotlight”
Ingredion last year made a big financial commitment to texture, spending more than $100 million to improve the efficiency and production capabilities of its Indianapolis facility that manufactures texturizing ingredients. The company said the investment will allow it to produce more texture-based ingredients there while building-in the ability to add new offerings to its portfolio.
“Textures are integral to an exceptional eating experience," Ingredion writes on its website. "Whether it's the satisfying crunch of fried chicken, the perfect stretch of mochi or the indulgent creaminess of yogurt, textures play an important role in consumer enjoyment.”
According to Ingredion's 2024 Texture Research study, 79% of consumers agree or are neutral that texture determines overall satisfaction of the eating experience. Further highlighting texture's impact on product appeal, the research shows that the majority of consumers will not eat a food if they dislike the texture.
“Texture isn't just a secondary characteristic of food; it influences everything from satiety and eating pace to cultural preferences and overall satisfaction,” Ingredion continues. “For instance, a crunchy food may require more chewing, which can slow down our eating pace and give our bodies more time to register fullness.
"Additionally, the unique texture of a favorite childhood snack or a special holiday dish can evoke strong emotions, making texture an integral part of our food-related nostalgia… Texture also is an opportunity to include ingredients, like nuts, seeds and ancient grains.”
Ingredion’s texture portfolio includes both soluble and insoluble forms of fiber. Soluble fibers include its Nutraflora lines for human food and Fortifeed just for animal foods. Insoluble fibers include Hi-Maize, Nuvelose and Versafibe resistant starches and Versafibe potato-based modified food starch and Fibertex citrus fibers.
Amasar, a Puerto Rican supplier of breadfruit-based flours, notes breadfruit naturally contributes both dietary fiber and functional starches that can positively influence texture in finished products. “From a formulation standpoint, the fiber in breadfruit—primarily insoluble fiber with some soluble components—helps improve water absorption and retention,” says Amasar’s founders, Marisol Villalobos and Jesús Martes.
“This translates into better moisture management in batters and doughs, which can enhance softness, reduce dryness and support a more cohesive structure. At the same time, breadfruit flour contains a unique starch profile (rich in complex carbohydrates, including resistant starch) that contributes to viscosity and structure formation during cooking.”
They add that these functionalities can help mimic some of the binding and texturizing roles typically achieved with added gums or stabilizers.
“In practical applications like pancakes, waffles and baked goods, we’ve observed:
- Improved crumb softness and reduced crumbliness
- Better moisture retention over shelf life
- A more uniform, tender texture without relying heavily on hydrocolloids
“Because these functionalities come from a whole-food source,” Villalobos and Martes continue, “breadfruit can, in some formulations, partially replace more highly processed texturizing agents while also contributing nutritional value — particularly fiber.”
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.