What are Technological Adjuvants
Derived from the union of the two Latin words “ad” and “juvare”, meaning “towards” and “to help” respectively, the role of so-called technological adjuvants is to provide help towards the achievement of some predefined goal. Coincidentally, this is also the origin of the word adjutant – a military term used to describe a junior officer assigned to help a more senior officer with administrative tasks. In other fields, such as the pharmaceutical and food-and-beverage industries, the former term refers to various chemical additives whose role is to modify some feature of their products.
One of the earliest uses of a technological adjuvant was during the 1930s when aluminium salts were found to increase the efficacy of the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. Their inclusion in the vaccine served to boost the body’s immune response to the presence of the bacterial antigens. The same principle was soon adopted for the manufacture of various pharmaceutical preparations in which the inclusion of selected non-active ingredients served as a means to increase the effectiveness of the active ingredient.
Agriculture is yet another field in which the use of special additives has proved to be of value. Farmers rely heavily on the use of chemical sprays to protect their crops from the ravages of insects and microorganisms. To enhance the effectiveness of pesticides, they are often combined with technological adjuvants and these are introduced in one of two ways. The additive may either be included as part of the basic formulation of the product or a measured volume added to the tank of pesticide before it is sprayed.
Within the food industry of today, chemical additives are also proving to be invaluable. Some act as preservatives, helping to extend the shelf life of certain foods, while the roles of others vary widely, ranging from artificial colourants and flavourings to emulsifiers, stabilisers, and antioxidants. Used in processed meats, canned foods, sauces, jams, and most factory-produced foodstuffs, technological adjuvants are also widely used in the preparation and processing of fish and other seafood.
It may appear somewhat counterintuitive but the fact is that even though these creatures spend their entire lives in saltwater, once caught and removed from the sea, their flesh tends to deteriorate even faster than that of cattle and poultry. This is because marine creatures are susceptible to superficial infestation by bacteria and parasites which cause little harm to the fish whilst they are alive but, without the help of a suitable technological adjuvant, would otherwise promote rapid decomposition of their tissues after death.
Naturally, just as is the case with pharmaceutical products, there are stringent regulations regarding the nature of the additives that may be included in edible products destined for human consumption. The regulations set by the EU, FDA, WHO, and similar bodies have not, however, managed to eliminate all of those less scrupulous manufacturers who often supply inferior or even dangerous additives in order to save a few cents. That said, Tequisa is a world-renowned supplier of technological adjuvants to the seafood industry with a reputation for quality and innovation that is backed by more than three decades of experience. Since 1995, Tequisa has been supplying its products to fisheries and fish-processing plants throughout the Southern African region.
