Formulation of vegan nutritional gummy supplements and their textural-organoleptic analysis

Abstract

Gummy supplements are an exceptional medium for delivering pharmaceuticals and nutritional bioactives, especially for children. Interestingly, they are increasingly finding favor among adults as effective bioactive delivery systems. This study aimed to identify and select natural vegan components for creating and developing gummy prototypes. The gelling agent was agar-agar, sourced from red algae, and combined with carrageenan to enhance compressibility. Phycocyanin from Spirulina and anthocyanin from purple cabbage were used as colorants to provide a range of natural hues. The study resulted in five distinct formulations: Blueberry Anthocyanin Vitamin D (BAD), Blueberry Anthocyanin Vitamin C (BAC), Mango Antacid Anthocyanin (MAA), Mango Flavored Phycocyanin (MFP), and Kiwi Flavored Spirulina (KFS) gummies. Notably, the MAA gummy exhibited suboptimal texture quality during preliminary assessments and was consequently excluded from further analysis.Across the formulations, no visible color changes were noted upon room temperature storage for a week. The BAD gummy displayed heightened adhesiveness and springiness in texture, while the KFS gummy demonstrated superior cohesiveness, chewiness, and gumminess in its fresh state.Interestingly, the BAD gummy exhibited the highest adhesion even in the one-week-old samples.The outcome of the 9-point hedonic sensory evaluation unveiled that the cyan shade, derived from the phycocyanin pigment of Spirulina, was the most preferred color among the gummies. Regarding overall likability, the MFP and BAC formulations garnered the highest responses for being 'liked extremely'. The uniqueness of the present work lies in its meticulous exploration and selection of natural vegan ingredients to craft gummy formulations with diverse bioactive and sensory attributes.