Three of Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trends for 2021 have everything to do with health (including immunity, food and mood and “nutrition hacking”). Meanwhile, Innova also identifies “transparency” as another key topic resonating with today’s consumers. This focus relates to the ethical, ecological and clean label aspects of a new product.

With its new SternPur S DH 50, Sternchemie brings a lecithin to market that is the perfect fit for these trends. And not just that—as a hydrolyzed, de-oiled sunflower lecithin—it is an absolute innovation on the market that opens up many new applications. 

This new product within the SternPur range is allergen-free, non-GMO and thus the ideal alternative to artificial emulsifiers. 

“With this innovation we’re expanding the functional and application scope of lecithin,” says Dr. Waldemar Buxmann, Head of Applications and Technical Product Management. “Currently we’re testing various application areas and are ourselves amazed at the range of possibilities.” 

Sternchemie’s enzymatic treatment and effective removal of oils and flavors results in a pure, practically odorless and flavor-neutral lecithin. The easily miscible SternPur S DH 50 powder is of high purity and quality. It develops its full functionality without impairing the appearance and taste of the final product.

With SternPur, for the first time a label-friendly sunflower lecithin is available that has a high HLB value and outstanding emulsifying properties. This makes it very suitable for making stable oil-in-water emulsions, instead of the artificial emulsifiers or chemically modified lecithins frequently used. The latter are not approved in Europe but are used in food products in the US.

Versatile for all powder applications 
Like all lecithins, SternPur S DH 50 is more than an emulsifier; it is also a stabilizer and release agent. In baked goods, it improves dough conditioning and machinability and gives a higher yield by volume. At the same time, through its unique structure it can delay the aging process of baked goods and reduce the use of mono- and diglycerides. 

In deep-frozen baked goods or in the controlled interruption of fermentation of unbaked dough pieces, this hydrophilic and hydrolyzed lecithin prevents the growth of large ice crystals. In this way, the new SternPur stabilizes and protects the dough’s yeast cells and gluten network from mechanical damage due to temperature fluctuations. Thus, it ensures top quality and longer freshness.

In fat powders such as instant sauces, whole milk, coconut or cocoa powders, this new hydrolyzed sunflower lecithin improves the wetting, sinking and distribution of the powder. 

SternPur offers unusual benefits for beverages, especially plant-based milk alternatives. The lysophospholipids in the lecithin interact effectively with the proteins to build complexes, stabilizing both emulsions and proteins during pasteurizing and storage. These properties are of great interest for the growing plant-based milk alternative category. 

It also has great promise for meal replacement products and nutritional supplements. Thanks to its ability to readily form aggregates – “micelles” – in watery environments, this sunflower lecithin has the potential to improve the digestibility and bioavailability of fat-soluble nutrients.

Right solution for every customer
Depending on the specific applications and processes, with this new hydrolyzed, de-oiled SternPur powder and the proven SternPhil liquid Sternchemie offers the right solution for every requirement. 

“With the liquid solution SternPhil, we can adjust the degree of hydrolyzation and so its affinity to water to customer needs, to ensure uninterrupted and reliable processing,” notes Dr. Roland Rabeler, Business Development Manager Sternchemie. “The new de-oiled product completes our product range with a highly concentrated and highly functional solution. This offers new possibilities especially for processes that demand powdered ingredients.”

About Sternchemie 
Sternchemie GmbH & Co. KG headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, has been recognized worldwide as a specialist in lecithin and food lipids for over 30 years. Its product range includes lecithins from IP soy, rapeseed and sunflower, and organic lecithins from soy and sunflower. It also supplies multifunctional MCT oils, vitamin-rich red palm oil and spray-dried coconut milk. With production facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, India, Singapore and the US, and an international network of 18 foreign subsidiaries and numerous qualified foreign representatives, the company is represented in the world's key markets. 

As a member of the independent, owner-operated Stern-Wywiol Gruppe with a total of twelve sister companies, Sternchemie can make use of many synergies. The company has access to the knowledge of some 150 R&D specialists and to the extensive applications technology of the large Stern-Technology Center in Ahrensburg, Germany, as well as the Group’s shared production facilities and own logistics resources. Thus, it can offer customers a high degree of flexibility and innovation capabilities. Stern-Wywiol Gruppe is one of the world's most successful international suppliers of food & feed ingredients.