ElsevierPeriche Santamaría, A.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB.; Escriche Roberto, MI.; Andrés Grau, AM.; Castelló Gómez, ML. (2015). Potential use of isomaltulose to produce healthier marshmallows. Food Science and Technology. 62 (1)
10Isomaltulose is a non-cariogenic sugar with a lower glycemic index but with the same 11 caloric value and visual appearance as sucrose. Therefore, isomaltulose could 12 potentially be used to produce healthier candies. In this regard, the aim of this research 13 was to evaluate isomaltulose as a traditional sugar replacer in soft marshmallow type 14 candies, in order to provide added value to these widely consumed products, making it
30Sweets are attractive due to their intense colours, shapes and characteristic aroma and 31 taste, both for children and adults. Eating sweets in moderate amounts is pleasing and 32 has a positive effect on well-being attributable to the sugar and flavourings present.
33However, these food products are not basic necessities and they are actually 34 considered to be quite unhealthy since they are related to different diseases such as 35 tooth decay, a sharp increase in the glycemic index and obesity. Despite these effects, 36 they account for a significant volume of sales, candy consumption in Europe being 37 valued at €710,291,000 in 2011 (Martínez, 2012).
38The candy industry is a sector which is continually innovating in order to please 39 consumers and develop new sugar free products meeting the demand for low calorie 40 goods. The artificial sweeteners used as sugar substitutes show different 41 disadvantages. For instance, polyalcohols have a laxative effect (Franz et al., 1994; 42 Edwards, 2002) and intensive sweeteners such as aspartame have been related to the 43 development of cancer and other health issues (AFSSA, 2002; Weihrauch and Diehl, 44 2004; Soffritti et al., 2007; Renwick and Nordmann, 2007).
45In confectionery products, it is usual to find the combination of different sugars such as 46 sucrose, fructose, glucose with inverted sugar or glucose syrups which are meant to 47 increase their solubility, decreasing the water activity of the final product and hence 48 improving their stability. It is important to point out that gummy confectionery products 49 have a particular structure, which is related to the combination of sugars with proteins, 50 resulting in the typical gel texture of jelly babies or others gums. Similarly,
51marshmallows have a foam-structure formed by the addition of air into the protein-52 sugar combination through hard stirring. Consequently, the structural role of sugar-53 substitutes must be studied to assess whether the required mechanical properties of 54 3 the traditional product are reached, or on the contrary, whether the end-products might 55 be considered acceptable by consumers.
56An interesting natural sugar that can be used to revise the formula of candies is 57 isomaltulose. It is a reducing disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose, just like 58 sugar, but joined by a stronger glycoside bond t...
