Investigation of oligosaccharides and allulose as sucrose replacers in low-moisture wire-cut cookies

Abstract

Non-digestible oligosaccharides (OS) and allulose have beneficial health properties and could reduce the amount of added sugar in baked goods. In this study allulose and various OS [fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), lactosucrose (LOS), isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO), Promitor 70R (P70R), and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS)] were added to a wire-cut cookie formulation at concentrations determined to have similar effects on the gelatinization temperature (Tgel) of starch relative to sucrose. Different baking performance attributes of the doughs and cookies were assessed, including: appearance, spread, color, texture, and % moisture loss after baking. The results were correlated to: OS solution and solid properties and OS effects on starch thermal events (gelatinization, pasting, and retrogradation). The Tgel-matching formulation protocol was effective in producing reduced-sugar cookies which had similar appearance, color, and spread attributes compared to the sucrose control; however, cookie texture significantly varied. Cookies containing allulose were the least similar to the control, having darker color, reduced spread, and softer cake-like texture. The only OS cookies that matched the texture of the sucrose control contained LOS, while P70R cookies were the hardest. Cookie texture correlated strongly with the % total moisture loss after baking (r = −0.8763) and was best explained by OS solution viscosity: more viscous OS solutions limited moisture release and resulted in harder cookies. The Tgel of starch also correlated with OS solution viscosity (r = 0.7861) and should be accounted for in reduced sugar applications. The OS recommended as sucrose replacers in cookies based on principal component analysis groupings were: XOS > IMO > LOS > and GOS.