Many people know that yeast extract plays as a flavor enhancer in food, but it’s not limited to that. It can also provide various solutions for different foods, such as salt reduction, sugar reduction, vegetarian, and clean labels.
In this article, let’s discuss these solutions in detail.

First of all, yeast extract is a natural ingredient, and taste improvement is its most important use in food.

Yeast extract’s main use is for taste improvement.

When the yeast has gone through lysis, it can emit a complex of flavors by releasing different metabolites: sugars, free amino acids, or bonded amino acids (peptides). As we consume the meat from animals, the meat flavor tastes different according to the nature of their feed (grass, fodder, or prepared feed). The nutritional source of yeast is pure glucose syrup, beet molasses, or sugar cane; they will hugely influence the flavors that the yeast extracts will emit.
Yeast extract improves the taste of foods and heightens flavors in the same way as herbs or spices. It rounds off the taste profile and balances the overall taste and flavor profile.

Yeast extract is a solution for salt reduction.

Salt is a component that ignites a debate between consumers and the food industry. The consumption of sodium is less than 5g a day recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Thus, consumers now become more concerned with reducing salt consumption in their daily meals.
Contributes to umami flavor: this flavor is usually known as the “fifth taste,” along with saltiness, sweetness, sourness, and bitterness. It improves the overall taste of a product, and we can found it naturally in some foods such as tomatoes, mushrooms, or parmesan cheese. Umami has the particularity of bringing “mouthfulness” and long-lasting flavor. Due to its ability to increase salty perception, it is a key tool for salt reduction。
Yeast extract is the ideal solution for a low-salt formulation. By using yeast extract, the sodium in food formulations can be reduced by up to 40%.

Yeast extract is also a solution for sugar reduction.

In the food and beverage industries, sugar reduction is an important trend for NPD(Authoritative data investigation institution). Part due to consumers’ concerns about their health, mainly related to overweight and obesity being major risk factors of diseases and driven by sugar taxes. In both cases, keeping good taste is one of the first challenges of reformulation.
Yeast extract helps to reduce the sugar content of formulations by complementing and enhancing some specific taste notes, such as caramel and cacao, allowing to reduce the sugar in sweet applications.
Yeast extract is a natural ingredient aligned with consumers’ trends, and it can improve, intensify and add a depth of flavor to savory and sweet snacks. With these flavors intensified, the food developers can reach a sugar reduction of up to 30%.

Yeast extract is suitable for vegetarian cuisines.

The number of vegetarian and vegan people is increasing in recent years. Vegan claims in new global food product launch doubled in 2020 compared to 2016, according to Mintel GNPD.
Yeast extract is an animal-free ingredient. Therefore, it’s suitable for vegetarian and vegan products.
Yeast extract is a versatile ingredient for masking off notes of vegetable protein in plant-based recipes and other applications. So it’s ideal for vegetarian cuisines.

Yeast extract can help food manufacturers reduced “undesirables” ingredients for a clean label.

As a natural origin ingredient mostly used to improve the overall taste of foods, yeast extract is efficient in balancing and preserving taste when food formulators come to a shorter ingredient list. So yeast extract is in line with the clean label trend.
With the increase in the consumers’ demand for more information on the foods and their origin, the clean label has become a worldwide trend. It guides the food industry to search for healthy diets for the ingredients used in its formulations. Consumers are in search of minimally processed, sustainable, and healthy foods.

Hiyeast is an expert in producing yeast extract.

ハイイースト aims to bring pleasure by improving the taste, nutritional and sensory properties of food and beverages with an internal team of flavorists, food applications specialists, and yeast experts.
Hiyeast©酵母エキス is a natural, vegan, Halal, Kosher, and Non-GMO Project Verified solution. Visit our website to know more!