Stickiness of sugar syrups with and without particles

Abstract

Stickiness of sugar solutions causes problems in various food products and operations. In this study, the effects of glucose syrup type (dextrose equivalent) and crystalline particles on stickiness of sugar solutions with water contents from 10 to 20% were determined. Four different corn syrups with varying dextrose equivalence (DE) were used to determine the effects of polysaccharide distribution on sugar syrup stickiness. The effects of particles (zirconium oxide beads (Zr 2 O 3 ), fondant sucrose and granular sucrose crystals) on the surface were then evaluated to gain a better understanding of their role in reducing syrup stickiness. Stickiness was measured as tack force and work of adhesion with a texture analyzer and correlated with water content and glass transition temperature ( T g ). Both tack force and work of adhesion increased to a maximum as moisture content decreased from 20% down to between 11 and 13%. Below this water content, work of adhesion decreased as syrups underwent a transition from cohesive to adhesive failure. Similar behavior was shown for T-T g . In general, lower DE caused a reduction in both tack force and work of adhesion without a significant change in T g . Particles at the surface, regardless of their size or origin, decreased stickiness approximately linearly with increasing surface coverage, verifying the hypothesis that a reduction in the surface area of amorphous sugar in contact with the probe causes a direct reduction in stickiness. Stickiness of a partially-crystalline coating layer was correlated to moisture content and the extent of surface coverage of particles. • Stickiness of sugar syrups is directly correlated with syrup moisture content. • Syrups made with higher DE corn syrup had higher tack force and work of adhesion. • Particles added to the bulk of sugar syrups did not affect stickiness. • Surface particle addition significantly decreased sugar syrup stickiness.