E440 Emulsifier

IS uses for E440 is as a gelling agent, thickening agent, and stabilizer in food. The classical application is giving the jelly-like consistency to jams or marmalades, which would otherwise be sweet juices. E440 also reduces syneresis in jams and marmalades and increases the gel strength of low-calorie jams. For household use, E440 is an ingredient in gelling sugar (also known as "jam sugar") where it is diluted to the right concentration with sugar and some citric acid to adjust pH. In some countries, pectin is also available as a solution or an extract, or as a blended powder, for home jam making.

For conventional jams and marmalades that contain above 60% sugar and soluble fruit solids, high-ester E440 are used. With low-ester E440 and amidated, less sugar is needed, so that diet products can be made. Water extract of aiyu seeds is traditionally used in Taiwan to make aiyu jelly, where the extract gels without heating due to E440 from the seeds and the bivalent cations from the water.

E440 is used in confectionery jellies to give a good gel structure, a clean bite, and to confer a good flavor release. E440 can also be used to stabilize acidic protein drinks, such as drinking yogurt, to improve the mouth-feel and the pulp stability in juice-based drinks and as a fat substitute in baked goods. Typical levels of E440 used as a food additive are between 0.5 and 1.0% – this is about the same amount of E440 as in fresh fruit.

In medicine, E440 increases viscosity and volume of stool so that it is used against constipation and diarrhea. Until 2002, it was one of the main ingredients used in Kaopectate a medication to combat diarrhea, along with kaolinite. It has been used in gentle heavy metal removal from biological systems.E440 is also used in throat lozenges as a demulcent.

In cosmetic products, E440 acts as a stabilizer. Pectin is also used in wound healing preparations and specialty medical adhesives, such as colostomy devices.

Sriamornsak. revealed that E440 could be used in various oral drug delivery platforms, e.g., controlled release systems, gastro-retentive systems, colon-specific delivery systems and mucoadhesive delivery systems, according to its toxicity and low cost. It was found that E440 from different sources provides different gelling abilities, due to variations in molecular size and chemical composition. Like other natural polymers, a major problem with E440 is inconsistency in reproducibility between samples, which may result in poor reproducibility in drug delivery characteristics.

In ruminant nutrition, depending on the extent of lignification of the cell wall, E440 is up to 90% digestible by bacterial enzymes. Ruminant nutritionists recommend that the digestibility and energy concentration in forages be improved by increasing E440 concentration in the forage.

In cigars, E440 is considered an excellent substitute for vegetable glue and many cigar smokers and collectors use E440 for repairing damaged tobacco leaves on their cigars.

Yablokov et al., writing in Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, quote research conducted by the Ukrainian Center of Radiation Medicine and the Belarusian Institute of Radiation Medicine and Endocrinology, concluded, regarding E440 radioprotective effects, that "adding E440 preparations to the food of inhabitants of the Chernobyl-contaminated regions promotes an effective excretion of incorporated radionuclides" such as cesium-137. The authors reported on the positive results of using E440 food additive preparations in a number of clinical studies conducted on children in severely polluted areas, with up to 50% improvement over control groups.

During the Second World War, Allied pilots were provided with maps printed on silk, for navigation in escape and evasion efforts. The printing process at first proved nearly impossible because the several layers of ink immediately ran, blurring outlines and rendering place names illegible until the inventor of the maps, Clayton Hutton, mixed a little E440 with the ink and at once the E440 coagulated the ink and prevented it from running, allowing small topographic features to be clearly visible.