HK1038160A - Hydrocolloid confectionery product - Google Patents

Description

Hydrocolloid confectionery

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a hydrocolloid confectionery product. The invention also provides a hydrocolloid confectionery product. The hydrocolloid confectionery product is preferably gelatin-free.

Hydrocolloid confectionery products include sugar gels, which are products containing a gelling agent in a sugar/glucose syrup system, such as gummies and soft pastries, and hydrogels, which are products containing a gelling agent in water, such as jellies. Hydrocolloid confectionery currently accounts for about half of the confectionery products sold on display and is increasingly popular with the general public. Hydrocolloids are key ingredients of such confectioneries. They gel and texture, but are also stable by preventing syneresis, fixing flavor, and inhibiting sugar crystallization, providing clarity, brilliance, stickiness, and ease of foaming for aerated jelly.

Some examples of hydrocolloids for hydrocolloid confectionery products are agar, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, gellan gum, gum arabic, pectin, gelatin, guar gum, carrageenan and modified and/or unmodified starches. One of the most commonly used of these hydrocolloids in hydrocolloid confectionery is gelatin, which is mainly used as a gelling agent. Gelatin has been used for many years in confectionery manufacture due to its various functional attributes, particularly its structural, gel-forming, foam-stabilizing and emulsifying properties. Gelatin is the most commonly used hydrocolloid. Hydrocolloid confectionery products comprising gelatin having a unique gelatin structure are particularly desirable for consumers.

However, food-grade gelatin is generally obtained from bovine or porcine raw materials, making the use of gelatin undesirable not only for concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (i.e., "BSE" or "mad cow disease"), but also due to the presence of vegetarian populations, and certain ethnicities that are concerned about the type of meat used in certain food products and/or that comply with some dietary contraindications related to the consumption of meat and dairy products. In addition, since gelatin is a protein, highly sensitive to heat and strong acid treatment, degradation can result in loss of its functional properties, reduced cooking efficiency, loss of active ingredients and possible contamination, which necessitates frequent cleaning of the processing equipment.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide a process for preparing gelatin-excluded hydrocolloid confectionery products that overcomes the problems associated with gelatin, yet maintains a satisfactory texture acceptable to consumers. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a method of making a confectionery in which at least a portion, and preferably all, of the gelatin is replaced in the product.

Another problem is that many confectioneries, such as starch cast confectioneries, fail to retain their cast shape due to differential shrinkage during the drying stage, which is used to provide the desired texture with reduced moisture. This can affect the efficiency of further processing of the confectionery by techniques such as panning and painting. Therefore, there is also a need to provide a process for the preparation of hydrocolloid confectionery products which retain their shape during further processing and which are easy to panning.

It has been found that by using one or more hydrocolloids in the manufacture of a hydrocolloid confectionery product, the resulting confectionery product forms a heat resistant gel structure during drying and in addition the above mentioned disadvantages with respect to gelatine can be avoided while still providing a satisfactory structure in the final product. The use of a hydrocolloid system to gel before and during drying of the cast confectionery, preferably fluid for casting, and subsequent gelation, can also be effectively hung up without agglomeration for the manufacture of larger diameter lenticular (lens) end products.

The present invention provides a process for the preparation of a confectionery product which comprises mixing one or more hydrocolloids with the remaining ingredients of the final product, cooking the thus obtained formulation mixture, shaping the cooked mass and triggering the cooked mass to form a heat resistant gel structure after the cooked mass has been shaped and before drying, wherein the heat resistant gel structure is maintained during further processing.

The hydrocolloid employed may be any hydrocolloid which forms a set heat resistant gel, for example agarose, xanthan gum, gellan gum, gum arabic, pectin, gelatin or carrageenan. Preferably, the hydrocolloids used are selected from agarose, gellan, pectin and/or carrageenan. More preferably the hydrocolloid used is pectin and may include starch. Gelatin may also be used. The starch/pectin hydrocolloid confectionery may be gelatin-free.

The invention also provides a process for the preparation of a hydrocolloid confectionery product comprising one or more hydrocolloids, preferably wherein the hydrocolloids replace at least a part of the gelatin. According to one embodiment of the invention, the confectionery is preferably gelatin-free and all gelatin is replaced by said one or more hydrocolloids.

The cook batch may be treated to trigger the onset of hydrocolloid gelation. The cook material may be acidified and/or the temperature lowered and/or salt added. Especially if a mixture of pectin and starch is used, the hydrocolloid starts to gel after acidification and forms a heat resistant gel structure once the temperature is below 90 ℃. The gel structure is maintained during drying and further processing of the confectionery. The cooked material is acidified to a pH of 3.0 to 3.8, preferably a pH of 3.2 to 3.4. The desired PH depends on the particular grade of pectin used, the temperature and the liquid moisture content.

The method may also include additional steps of seasoning the cooked material, and drying, sanding, and panning the castable material. The cook material is shaped by hot pouring it into a mold, for example at 100 ℃.

According to the present invention, the hydrocolloid mixture may also include added additives such as acids, flavorants, pigments, humectants, etc. (acids, flavorants, etc. are typically added after cooking) to provide a syrup having the desired final solids content.

The hydrocolloid confectionery product of the invention may be prepared by conventional methods. The initial ingredient mixture may be boiled using a steam pressure cooker, a coil cooker, a plate heat exchanger or a cooker extruder. The operation conditions are different according to the selected sugar boiling equipment, the selected ingredients and the like.

The formation of the confectionery may then be carried out using conventional techniques and must be subjected to the required cooling/drying stage. The shaped confectionery is dried, for example by baking, which is a dehydration step carried out at a specific temperature, humidity and time, the parameters of which are easily selectable by the person skilled in the art. This may make further processing, such as panning, more efficient as the gel structure retains its shape after cooking. The gelled confection has a lenticular shape which is easy to glaze and thus easy to coat. Confections that do not form such a gel structure tend to be concave prior to drying, doubling this tendency due to coalescence during panning, thereby preventing further effective processing. The final product may then be granulated sugar and panned.

The invention also relates to coated confectionery prepared according to the invention comprising one or more hydrocolloids. The coating may preferably be carried out by panning, with e.g. a soft, hard or chocolate/fat based coating.

The invention also provides a confectionery product comprising oxidised starch and a further hydrocolloid, preferably wherein the hydrocolloid replaces at least a portion of the gelatin. Such confectionery may be gelatin-free.

Oxidized starches may be obtained from any source, such as starches obtained from corn, potato, and the like, which are subjected to an oxidation reaction. For example, when an (aqueous) starch suspension is treated with an oxidizing agent, such as sodium hydrochloride, the primary alcohol at the C6 position on the starch molecule is oxidized to a carboxylic acid group, resulting in an oxidized starch. Oxidation introduces a high degree of steric hindrance into the molecule, preventing and greatly reducing the tendency of short chain moieties to convert into aged bundles. This complex reaction involves hydrolysis, ring rupture, carboxylation (OH groups to COOH groups) of the starch molecule to reduce the viscosity of the starch solution, and the soft state is hindered.

Techniques for detecting oxidized starch at a functional level (approaching 1% or more), the detection being specific to the carbonyl group of the oxidized starch. Suitable techniques include Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and solid state NMR.

The hydrocolloid confectionery product of the invention may contain from 0.1 to 20% by weight of a hydrocolloid. Preferably the hydrocolloid confectionery product comprises pectin in combination with starch. The hydrocolloid confectionery product may contain 0.3% to 2%, preferably 1% by weight of pectin and 3% to 20%, preferably 5% to 15%, and especially 10% by weight of starch.

In addition to the hydrocolloid(s) the confectionery product may contain conventional ingredients such as food acids, e.g. lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid, hydrochloric acid, citric acid, fruit juices, vegetable juices, fats, etc. The amount added is determined according to the final product, but may be 0.1 to 3 wt%, particularly 1.0 to 2.5 wt%, based on the weight of the candy. The fruit juice is preferably 2 to 15 wt%. In the case of aerated systems, the confectionery may also include humectants such as glycerin, flavorants, artificial sweeteners for sugarless products, emulsifiers such as lecithin, flavoring agents such as talin, colors, proteins such as (egg) proteins or milk proteins, while other additives are used in amounts and in types depending on the final product. Suitable amounts of these additives are from 0.1 to 5 wt%, especially from 0.2 to 2.0 wt%, based on the weight of the hydrocolloid confectionery product. The remaining ingredients of the candy are syrups containing sugars such as glucose, sucrose syrup, invert sugar, lactose or sugar substitutes such as sugar alcohols, polydextrose and water. The amount of water in the final hydrocolloid confectionery product of the invention may be from 5 to 20 wt%, preferably from 6 to 15 wt%, based on the weight of the hydrocolloid confectionery product.

The following examples provide formulation and processing details for confectioneries according to preferred embodiments of the present invention. These examples are intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not meant to be limiting.

Example 1

A confection wherein starch and pectin are used as gelling agents is prepared by mixing pectin and sugar and hydrating the mixture to form a solution. The sugar/pectin solution is mixed with starch and the remaining ingredients, which are sugar and glucose syrup. The mixture is then cooked to gelatinize the starch and evaporated to a solids content of about 65% to 80%.

The liquor is kept hot at 80 to 100 ℃, seasoned and acidified to a pH of 3.2 to 3.4 and the pectin begins to gel. The cooked material is transferred to a starch casting line where it is cast into the desired shape. The casting material is then dried in an oven with hot dry air to achieve a final solids content of approximately 85%. Then removed from the oven and cooled to room temperature. The shape of the casting material is maintained during further processing of the confectionery.

The further processing of the casting material can be carried out using conventional methods. The candy can be air cleaned to remove any starch. The candy is granulated first by passing through a steam tunnel and then through a roller containing crystallized sugar. The confectionery may then be panned in a conventional manner using a number of different coatings, such as hard, soft or chocolate/fat based coatings.

Example 2

A hydrocolloid confectionery product having the following formulation was prepared according to the method of example 1.

The weight percentage (wt%) of high methoxyl slow coagulating pectin is 1%, starch is 10%, sugar is 33%, glucose syrup is 33%, and water is 20%

The amounts of sugar, glucose syrup and water can be varied, flavorants can be added as needed, and the mixture acidified to achieve the desired PH.

Claims (13)

1. A process for the preparation of a hydrocolloid confectionery product which comprises mixing one or more hydrocolloids with the remaining ingredients of the end product, cooking the formulation mixture thus obtained, allowing the cooked mass to set and after the cooked mass has set, before drying, triggering the cooked mass to form a heat resistant gel structure, wherein the heat resistant gel structure is maintained during further processing.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the gelling of the shaped cook batch is triggered by acidification.

3. A process according to claim 2 wherein the shaped cooked mass is acidified to a PH of 3.0 to 3.8.

4. A process according to claim 1 wherein the hydrocolloid is selected from agarose, gellan gum, pectin and/or carrageenan.

5. A method according to claim 4 wherein the hydrocolloid is pectin.

6. A method according to claims 1 to 5, wherein starch is included.

7. A process according to claims 1 to 6, wherein gelatin is included.

8. Method according to claims 1 to 7, comprising the additional step of seasoning the cook, drying, sanding and/or panning.

9. Hydrocolloid confectionery product according to claims 1 to 8, wherein the hydrocolloid replaces at least a part of the gelatin in the product.

10. A hydrocolloid confectionery product according to claim 9 wherein the confectionery product is gelatin-free.

11. Hydrocolloid confectionery product according to claims 1 to 10, having a biconvex shape.

12. A hydrocolloid confectionery product prepared according to claims 1 to 11 which is a gum, jelly or custard.

13. A coated hydrocolloid confectionery product prepared according to claims 1 to 12.