The effect of sugar substitution on model confectionary systems

Abstract

Excessive consumption of added sugar is associated with many health problems, for example obesity, type 2 diabetes, etc. Hence there is an urgent need for the product reformulation by total replacement or partial reduction of sugar in food industry. The aim of this research was to study the effect of sugar substitution (by stevia and xylitol) on model confectionary systems. We investigated differences in the texture properties, the viscosity and thermal properties of the blends. Based on our results, the sugar substitution affects the physical properties of the measured samples. The apparent viscosity and the texture properties were changed due to the different dry matter content in the samples. In the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) curves the different melting of the samples were expressed according to the changes in sugar content. Further work is needed in this field to follow up the discovered changes in thermal behaviour of these mixtures.