SUCROSE INVERSION OF HARD CANDIES FORMULATED WITH REWORK SYRUP WITH ADDITION OF SODIUM LACTATE

Abstract

ABSTRACT This work investigated the use of rework syrup with addition of sodium lactate in hard candy manufacturing, following the inversion of sucrose in hard candies where 10% of the glucose syrup of the formulation was substituted by the rework syrup. Moisture, mass net gain, water activity and visual inspection of crystallization and cold melt were carried out in the final product. The candies prepared with rework syrup with up to 4 g of sodium lactate solution/100 g presented lower pH, decrease of sucrose content and increase in glucose and fructose concentrations. The increase in fructose content was followed by an increase in net weight of the candies, inducing crystallization and cold melt. The addition of 2 g of sodium lactate/100 g in the rework syrup and 2/100 g in the final syrup before cooking was effective in reducing inversion of sucrose. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe occurrence of products that are out of specification is common in manufacturing hard candy. Usually, these products are dissolved again in water and are filtered, the aroma and dyes are removed and the resulting syrup, called rework syrup, is used in the preparation of new sucrose syrup for hard candy production. However, the addition of rework syrup to the formulation of new candies creates a problem, as the sucrose in this syrup may have been partially hydrolyzed, yielding glucose and fructose. The resulting hard candy would then have a high fructose content, which will induce crystallization and cold melt of the candy, decreasing its shelf life. The results of this work show that the rework syrup could be improved by the addition of a buffering agent, sodium lactate, which decreases the rate of sucrose hydrolysis, improving the quality of the resulting candies, as well as their shelf life.