A firming agent is a food additive that precipitates residual pectin, strengthening the structure of the food so it does not collapse during processing.
These are salts — typically lactates or phosphates, calcium salts or aluminium sulfates — and they work by reacting with something already in the product, such as the pectin in fruit. They are used mainly on fresh fruit and vegetables: fruit sold cut into wedges, for instance, can have the pulp sprayed with a solution of the salt.
The firming agents we supply
We stock Calcium Chloride and Calcium Gluconate. The choice between them is usually driven by the finished product’s tolerance for chloride and by the taste profile you can accept.
What we supply
Calcium ChlorideCalcium Gluconate
Calcium Chloride Used in canned vegetables, in firming soybean curds into tofu, and in producing caviar substitutes from vegetable or fruit juices. Its freezing-point depression also slows the freezing of caramel in filled chocolate bars.
A salt taste without the sodium The strongly salty taste of calcium chloride is used to flavour pickles without adding to the sodium content — and it is frequently added to sliced apples to hold texture.
Calcium Gluconate White crystalline granules or powder, soluble in alcohol and other organic solvents. Used as a nutrient, firming agent, stabiliser and texturiser in grain products and beverages.
When chloride is a problem Calcium gluconate serves as an alternative calcium source to calcium chloride where chloride toxicity is a concern — including as a plant tissue culture macronutrient.