Liquorice, challenges for the black, sticky ingredient

Positioned in the top three European liquorice suppliers, the German firm has seen a steady uptake in its new liquorice extract on the back of the formulation's added value concept - quick-processing and dust-free qualities. "Demand is up from confectionery manufacturers for our extract. Slightly more expensive, customers are prepared to pay because of the advantages," Juergen Spieth at Alfred L. Wolff tells FoodNavigator.com. The concentrated and purified extract of the liquorice roots Glycyrrhiza glabra is used in confectionery formulations - as a sweetener, flavouring agent and enhancer, and debittering agent . The source of which comes from its active substance - glycyrrhizin - a very sweet glycoside occurring in the roots as the calcium plus potassium salts of glycyrrhizin acid. But working with liquorice is a messy business. Traditionally the extract is supplied in blocks as well as spray-powder, that create clouds of brown dust and 'stickiness' during production. According to Spieth, the liquorice pellets, nuggets, QSLic - Quick Soluble Licorice in powder -, and liquorice paste designed by the company offer practical advantages and alternatives to these traditional 'messy' supply forms. "Dustfree handling, reduced hygroscopicity, low percentage of humidity, easy storage and quick solubility are key qualities for our new product". Used by manufacturers in confectionery products - notably Trebor Bassett's (Cadbury's Schweppes) Liquorice Allsorts brand and by French sweet leader Haribo - liquorice is principally grown from Turkey through to the former Soviet states of Uzbekistan and Kurdistan and up into China. Prices were once stable but political movement in this region - the crumbling of the Iron Curtain in 1989 - has seen world prices rise for liquorice root. The figures are also influenced by transport dilemmas - an ongoing problem in the liquorice growing regions. In zones where the infrastucture needs investment, getting the products across the land-locked zones and to a sea port has also contributed to price rises. Further exacerbated by droughts last year that reduced the harvest. But there are ample stocks to go around. The world food market can still be supplied, there is no shortage, said Spieth. In the confectionery industry, water extracts of liquorice roots are mixed with sugar, corn syrup and flour to make many types of liquorice-based confectionery. In the US, however, anethole, a major constituent in the anise plant, is a popular substitute-flavouring agent for the black stuff. Liquorice is also commonly used as a sweetening/flavouring agent to counteract the unpleasant taste of many drugs or added as filler in capsules. In the UK liquorice is used as an emulsifier to create foam in drinks and alcoholic beverages. Containing a myriad of biologically active ingredients the root is also an expectorant and therefore used extensively in cough syrups and sweets. Key ingredients in the root include triterpenes of the oleanane type, flavonoids and isoflavonoids - plant antioxidants/plant estrogens; polysaccharides, mainly glucans; and starch, sugars, and amino acids. According to Key Note Publications, the UK confectionery market is a significant sector of the UK food industry, estimated to be worth £5.96bn (€8.94bn) in 2002. Sales of confectionery products have risen in the past five years and in 2002 grew by 5.5 per cent in value at current prices from 2001.

Liquorice, challenges for the black, sticky ingredient

Adding-value in the mature liquorice confectionery market is a key area for growth for this flavouring ingredient and flavour enhancer. With the launch of a new extract last year, German food ingredients company Alfred L. Wolff is looking to extend its share of the global market.

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