Choosing a yeast extract: start from the function, not the specification sheet

The food catalog is navigable two ways. The product navigator sorts the twenty-three trade names by processing route; a second layer, the functional navigator, maps the same trade names by the function they are bought for, and the catalog states its intended use plainly: this page is for when the starting point is the formulation objective rather than the processing route.

For most selection work that is the right order. Deciding between a powder and a paste, or between a nitrogen level of 5% and 7%, is easier once it is clear which job the extract is doing.

The functional navigator maps the range as follows:

Declared values from the 2026 PANGOO data sheets and catalogs.

Within the umami and mouthfulness groups the extracts are distinguished by nitrogen and nucleotide content, and the spread is wider than the similar names suggest.

The base and mid-range products declare total nitrogen ≥ 5.0% — FlavorBalance™, FlavorMax™ and PeptiFlavor™ in the extract route, and HydroFlavor™ in the hydrolysate route. The richer powder extracts declare total nitrogen ≥ 7.0% with amino nitrogen ≥ 2.0%, which covers UmamiBase™, YeastRich™, UmamiPro™ and SauceTone Powder™. PeptiBase™ declares total nitrogen ≥ 6.1% with amino nitrogen ≥ 2.0%. At the top of the range, NucleoPeptide™ declares total nitrogen ≥ 9.0% and nucleotides ≥ 10.0%.

Two products are specified on nucleotides rather than on nitrogen at all. NucleoUmami™ and NucleoPaste™ are documented as rich in naturally occurring taste nucleotides, which is a different way of buying umami from buying a nitrogen figure.

A paste is not a powder with water added as an afterthought — the two live in different systems. Yeast extract pastes declare moisture ≤ 40% and total nitrogen ≥ 7.0%, and the catalog positions them for sauces, soup bases, hot-pot bases, marinades and fermented sauce systems, where a semi-solid integration is an advantage. The powders suit dry blending and seasoning systems.

Shelf life follows the format and the route: 18 months for yeast extract powder and paste, 12 months for yeast hydrolysate.

Working through these in order avoids most dead ends:

• Name the function: umami impact, flavour balancing, body, sauce character, nutrition

• Choose the format the process can take: powder for dry systems, paste for sauces and semi-solid

• Set the specification floor — total nitrogen, amino nitrogen, or nucleotides, whichever the formulation is actually sensitive to

• Confirm the processing conditions: solubility, pH and heat exposure all bear on which extract survives the process intact

The catalog offers selection support based on umami, mouthfulness, nutrition, solubility and processing conditions, and states that samples may be provided for suitable projects and application evaluation. An enquiry that includes the target application, the processing conditions and the property being optimised can be answered with a specific grade rather than a catalogue.