High-calcium soft sweets capable of improving stability of fat-soluble vitamins and preparation method of high-calcium soft sweets
By adjusting the process path and interface stabilization design, and avoiding high shear and high oxygen environments, the stability of vitamin D3 is significantly improved, solving the problem of oxidative degradation of vitamin D3 during the production and storage of gummies, and achieving a gummy product with high stability and high content.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- JIANGSU YICHAO HEALTH TECH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-05
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-21
AI Technical Summary
In existing gummy production processes, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 are easily oxidized and degraded during emulsification and subsequent processing, resulting in actual content being lower than the theoretical amount. This makes it difficult to control the dosage and affects product stability and vitamin content during storage.
By adjusting the process path, the vitamin feeding step is delayed until after emulsification and aeration. Phospholipids and maltitol solution are used to form a stable dispersion, which forms a protective interface with the maltitol solution in advance and integrates with the gel network under low stress conditions, avoiding high shear and high oxygen environments.
Significantly reduces the process loss rate of vitamin D3 to below 5%, increases the retention rate of vitamin D3 to over 80% under accelerated testing conditions, ensures that the product's stability and content meet regulatory requirements during its shelf life, and improves the product's texture and flavor.
Smart Images
Figure SMS_1 
Figure SMS_2 
Figure SMS_3
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of food processing technology, specifically to a high-calcium gummy candy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins and its preparation method. Background Technology
[0002] In the field of functional gummies, especially when dealing with fat-soluble nutrients (such as vitamin D3) that are extremely sensitive to light, heat, and oxygen, existing production processes have systemic flaws, leading to severe challenges in content control and long-term stability. These problems are not simply defects in appearance or taste, but stem from a fundamental conflict between the principles of the process and the characteristics of the materials.
[0003] Gummies are ideal carriers of functional nutrients (such as vitamins and minerals) due to their pleasant taste, portability, and ease of consumption. Vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 are key fat-soluble vitamins for maintaining bone and cardiovascular health and are often added together to calcium-fortified gummies to synergistically promote calcium absorption and targeted deposition. However, stably encapsulating fat-soluble nutrients like vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 within a gummy system presents significant challenges. Current technologies typically add oily vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 along with other ingredients (such as flavorings and acids) before emulsification and aeration. This process has the following inherent drawbacks: First, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 are sensitive to light, heat, and oxygen. Prolonged exposure and mechanical shearing during emulsification and subsequent processes such as aeration, pouring, and drying can exacerbate their oxidation and degradation, resulting in an actual content in the finished product that is far lower than the theoretical amount, leading to raw material waste and difficulty in accurately controlling the dosage. Second, insufficient initial content and degradation caused during the process significantly increase the risk that the vitamin D3 content will be lower than the labeled value during storage and shelf life, failing to meet regulatory requirements and affecting product efficacy and commercial value. Third, if pretreatment is inadequate, oil-phase nutrients are difficult to disperse evenly in the water-based syrup, easily leading to excessively high local concentrations or the formation of an oil layer, affecting the product's texture and flavor.
[0004] Therefore, providing an innovative method for preparing gummies that can effectively address the loss of fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamin D3, during the production process while achieving the goal of high nutritional fortification and ensuring its stability during the shelf life is a problem that urgently needs to be solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention
[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides a method that can significantly improve the stability of oxygen- and heat-sensitive nutrients (especially vitamin D3) during the processing and storage of gummies, and a highly stable fortified gummies prepared by the method. Traditional technologies often use microencapsulation and other methods to fortify vitamins themselves, but cannot avoid the complex degradation caused by high shear, high dissolved oxygen and thermal stress generated in the emulsification and aeration process of gummies. The core of the present invention is to achieve degradation path isolation and protective introduction through systematic reconstruction of the preparation process. The specific principles are: (1) Degradation path isolation: separating the mineral dispersion (high stress process) and vitamin introduction in sequence, so that vitamins completely avoid the high-intensity degradation environment of emulsification and aeration; (2) Interface stabilization: pre-forming a stable dispersion of vitamins with phospholipids and sugar alcohols to construct a physical protective interface; (3) Gentle integration: introducing the pre-stabilized vitamin system into the established gel network under low stress conditions. Through synergistic effect, the stability bottleneck is solved from the source of the process.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:
[0007] A high-calcium gummy candy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins comprises the following ingredients in parts by weight: 600-650 parts sweetener, 240-280 parts calcium salt, 50-70 parts gelatin, 3-8 parts flavoring, 5-15 parts acidulant, 10-15 parts maltitol syrup, 0.5-2 parts phospholipid, 2-3 parts vitamin K2 oil, 0.04-0.06 parts vitamin D3 oil, and 110-150 parts water.
[0008] Furthermore, the sweetener is a sugar and / or a sugar alcohol; The calcium salt is any one or a mixture of calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, tricalcium phosphate, calcium lactate, and calcium gluconate.
[0009] Preferably, the sweetener is erythritol, and the calcium salt is calcium citrate.
[0010] Furthermore, the flavoring is any one or a mixture of apple flavoring, raspberry flavoring, strawberry flavoring, grape flavoring, peach flavoring, orange flavoring, lemon flavoring, mango flavoring, and lychee flavoring; The acidulant is any one or a mixture of citric acid, malic acid, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, and tartaric acid.
[0011] Preferably, the flavoring is mango flavoring and lychee flavoring, and the acidulant is DL-malic acid and citric acid monohydrate.
[0012] Furthermore, the mass ratio of the phospholipid to the maltitol solution is 1:5 to 1:15, preferably 1:10. This ratio enables the formation of a stable pre-dispersion system that encapsulates vitamin D3 and K2, and facilitates uniform dispersion during subsequent gentle mixing.
[0013] This invention also provides a method for preparing the above-mentioned high-calcium gummies with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins, comprising the following steps: (1) Preparation of sugar solution: Dissolve the sweetener in water and boil it until the solid content is 78-80% to obtain sugar solution; (2) Preparation of calcium salt mixture: Take calcium salt, add calcium salt in dry powder form to sugar solution, emulsify until there are no particles, and obtain calcium salt mixture; The purpose of this stage is to use mechanical force to achieve uniform distribution of calcium salt, so as to provide mineral framework for subsequent gelation; (3) Preparation of gelatin solution: Weigh out gelatin and dissolve it in hot water to obtain gelatin solution; (4) Preparation of emulsion mixture: Add gelatin solution to calcium salt mixture and mix, then add flavoring and acidulant to obtain mixture, and stir and emulsify and aerate to make its density reach 1.11-1.15 g / cm³ to obtain emulsion mixture; at this time the system has completed the integration of all functional and flavor components except vitamins; (5) Preparation of nutrient solution: Take phospholipid and maltitol solution and disperse evenly, then add vitamin K2 oil and vitamin D3 oil, preheat and stir until there is no oil layer to obtain nutrient solution; (6) Preparation of final solution: Add the nutrient solution to the emulsion mixture and mix evenly to obtain the final solution; (7) Preparation of high-calcium soft candy containing fat-soluble vitamins: The final liquid is poured into a sugar mold, dried, demolded, and the surface is polished to obtain the high-calcium soft candy containing fat-soluble vitamins.
[0014] This invention significantly improves the stability of vitamin D3: by postponing the addition of vitamin D3 and vitamin K2, the high-shear emulsification and aeration stages are avoided, and the loss rate of vitamin D3 during the process can be controlled below 5%, significantly better than the 20-25% of traditional processes. This results in an initial vitamin D3 content at the time of product delivery that is closer to the theoretical addition value, while providing equally effective protection for vitamin K2, avoiding ineffective costs and negative impacts on product efficacy due to its degradation. This invention ensures shelf-life compliance: due to the higher initial content and reduced process damage, the product exhibits excellent stability in accelerated testing and long-term storage. After 3 months of storage under accelerated conditions of 37±2℃ and 75±5%RH, the retention rate of vitamin D3 can be increased from less than 20% in existing processes to over 80%, ensuring that the product content consistently meets regulatory requirements throughout its shelf life. This invention improves the texture and flavor of the product: the process ensures that the gel network and aerated structure are essentially formed and stabilized before the oil phase is introduced, effectively avoiding interference from the oil phase during the gelation process, thereby optimizing the elasticity, chewiness, and cross-sectional uniformity of the gummies. Simultaneously, the reduction in vitamin D3 oxidative degradation also prevents the formation of undesirable flavor compounds, resulting in a purer product taste. This method requires no new equipment or expensive raw materials; the above technical effects can be achieved simply by optimizing the sequence of existing processes, making it easy to promote and apply in existing production lines and possessing high industrial value.
[0015] The core mechanism of the vitamin stability enhancement method described in this invention lies in the synergistic effect of process route optimization, interface stabilization design, and protective feeding conditions, which significantly reduces the degradation risk of vitamin D3 during processing and storage.
[0016] The specific mechanism is as follows: Process path avoidance mechanism: In traditional processes, heat- and oxygen-sensitive vitamins (such as vitamin D3 and K2) are exposed to high-oxygen, high-shear, and relatively high-temperature processing environments too early, making them prone to oxidation and isomerization degradation. This invention adjusts the vitamin feeding step to after emulsification and aeration, thus completely avoiding the aforementioned high-risk steps and blocking the main degradation pathway of vitamins at the source.
[0017] Interface stabilization mechanism: After aeration, the uniformly distributed microbubbles in the sugar body can physically isolate these phospholipid-stabilized oil droplets in a stable gel network and bubble structure after subsequent mixing with the oil phase and cooling and solidification, forming a double protection and further slowing down the migration and degradation rate during storage.
[0018] Protective feeding mechanism: After emulsification and aeration, the feed liquid has formed a stable emulsion system and the required texture (such as density). At this time, the system temperature has been moderately reduced (controlled at 62±5℃), and the mixed air has been dispersed into microbubbles, making the oxidation reaction interface relatively fixed. Under these mild conditions, light- and oxygen-sensitive vitamin D3 is added, and gentle stirring is used to ensure uniform dispersion, minimizing new contact opportunities between vitamin D3 and oxygen or high temperatures. Subsequent processes such as casting and drying are at even lower temperatures and for shorter periods, resulting in far less damage to vitamin D3 than the preceding processes. Furthermore, light-protected operation and thorough stirring before feeding further reduce the risk of degradation caused by localized light exposure and uneven concentration.
[0019] Furthermore, the mass ratio of the sweetener to water in step (1) is 40-60:30-50; the water temperature is 80℃-85℃; The boiling temperature is 100-120℃, and the pH of the sugar solution after boiling is 5.5-6.5.
[0020] Preferably, the mass ratio of the sweetener to water is 11:8; the water temperature is 85°C; the degree of cooking is such that the solid content is 79%; the cooking temperature is 115°C; and the pH of the sugar solution after cooking is 6.0.
[0021] Furthermore, in step (3), the mass ratio of gelatin to hot water is 50-70:60-80, and the temperature of the hot water is 50-60℃.
[0022] Preferably, the mass ratio of gelatin to hot water is 5:6, and the hot water temperature is 60℃. Furthermore, the pH of the emulsified mixture in step (4) is 3.5-4.5; the solid content of the mixture is 68-72%; the emulsification and aeration are carried out in an emulsification tank for 5-10 minutes.
[0023] Preferably, the pH of the emulsified mixture is 4.0, and the solid content of the mixture is 70%.
[0024] The emulsification and aeration process refers to the high-speed stirring of the liquid feed followed by the introduction of air, reducing its density to 1.11-1.15 g / cm³. This process generates significant heat and shear force, and introduces a large amount of oxygen, which has a significant destructive effect on heat- and oxygen-sensitive vitamins D3 and K2. Therefore, this invention specifically designs the timing of vitamin D3 and K2 addition after emulsification and aeration are completed to avoid their exposure to high temperature, high shear, and oxygen-rich environments during this process, thereby significantly reducing process losses.
[0025] Furthermore, in step (5), vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 need to be protected from light before feeding; the preheating temperature is 50-60℃. This method can ensure the fluidity of the vitamin predispersant and prevent vitamin degradation due to excessive temperature.
[0026] Furthermore, the preparation of the nutrient solution in step (5) is carried out in a mixing tank, and it needs to be stirred thoroughly before feeding.
[0027] In this invention, the temperature of the liquid after emulsification and aeration in step (4) is controlled at 60-70℃, and the temperature of the preheated nutrient liquid in step (5) is 50-60℃, with a temperature difference of no more than 10℃. This avoids the impact of drastic temperature changes on vitamin stability during mixing.
[0028] Furthermore, the final liquid in step (6) is prepared in a mixing tank at a temperature of 60-70°C for 5-10 minutes until the liquid is uniform, avoiding the introduction of new air bubbles and shear force by high-speed stirring; preferably, the mixing temperature is 62°C.
[0029] Furthermore, the casting in step (7) is done by using starch molding or aluminum film molding, and the drying is carried out by dehumidification for 20-30 hours at a temperature of 20-30℃ and a relative humidity of 20-30%, with the final product having a moisture content of 18%-19%.
[0030] Preferably, the casting is performed using a starch molding process, and the drying process involves dehumidification for 24 hours at a temperature of 25°C and a relative humidity of 25%. Preferably, the gummies prepared according to the present invention contain 100-200 mg of calcium, 2-5 μg of vitamin D3, and 8-15 μg of vitamin K2 per 3g gummy.
[0031] The gummies of this invention, under accelerated stability test conditions (e.g., 37±2℃, 75±5%RH), after 3 months of accelerated testing, retain ≥80% of vitamin D3.
[0032] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: 1. By delaying the feeding of vitamin D3 and K2 until after emulsification and aeration, this invention avoids the destruction of vitamins by high temperature, high shear and oxygen-rich environment, thereby significantly reducing process losses.
[0033] 2. This invention pre-disperses vitamins using phospholipids and maltitol solution to form a stable protective system, and mixes it with the main ingredient under mild conditions, further ensuring the uniform distribution and stability of vitamins in the gummies.
[0034] 3. By controlling parameters such as mixing temperature and stirring speed, this invention minimizes the impact of subsequent processes on vitamin stability.
[0035] The above-mentioned solutions of the present invention work together to significantly improve the stability of vitamin D3 in the gummies prepared by the present invention. After 3 months of accelerated testing, the retention rate can reach more than 80%, which is much higher than that of traditional processes (less than 20%).
[0036] The fortified gummies obtained by this invention not only successfully achieve synergistic fortification of high calcium and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin D3 and vitamin K2), but more importantly, through the synergistic effect of process route optimization, interface stabilization design, and protective feeding conditions, the stability of heat- and oxygen-sensitive vitamins during processing and storage is significantly improved. Accelerated stability tests (e.g., 3 months at 37±2℃ and 75±5%RH) verify that the retention rate of vitamin D3 can reach over 80%, effectively solving the technical bottleneck of easy nutrient degradation in traditional gummies and successfully preparing a functional gummies product with high nutritional value and good stability. Detailed Implementation
[0037] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0038] Example 1 A high-calcium gummy candy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins, using the ingredients shown in Table 1.
[0039] Table 1
[0040] Its preparation method is as follows: (1) Add 55 g of erythritol to 40 g of water and stir until dissolved without particles. Mix this solution with 80 g of glycerol and 480 g of maltitol solution in a cooking pot and cook at 115°C until the solid content is 79% (as measured by a saccharimeter) to obtain a sugar solution. Control the pH to 6.0 and vacuum as needed according to the bubble situation to obtain the sugar solution. (2) Add calcium citrate to the sugar solution in multiple batches and emulsify until the sugar solution is smooth and free of visible particles.
[0041] (3) Mix 60g of gelatin with 72g of purified water evenly, and dissolve the gelatin at 60℃ to obtain a gel solution.
[0042] (4) Pour the gelatin solution into the calcium salt mixture and mix well. Then add the flavoring agent and acidifier and mix well. Start the high-speed emulsification shearing and aeration device to emulsify the sugar solution and introduce an appropriate amount of air. Continue the operation until the sugar solution density stabilizes at 1.13 g / cm³. Stop the aeration to obtain a homogeneous emulsion mixture full of fine bubbles.
[0043] (5) Stir and mix the remaining maltitol solution, phospholipids, vitamin K2 oil and vitamin D3 oil until they are completely dispersed and no oil layer is separated. Preheat to 55°C to obtain the nutrient solution.
[0044] (6) Transfer the emulsified mixture to an insulated mixing tank and maintain the temperature at 62°C. Then add the nutrient solution to the aerated sugar colloid in the mixing tank and use gentle stirring (avoid introducing too many large air bubbles) to mix it thoroughly and evenly to obtain the final solution.
[0045] (7) Pour the final liquid into the mold and dry it for 24 hours under dehumidification conditions of 25°C and 25% relative humidity to reduce the moisture content of the soft candy to 18.5%. Demold the dried soft candy block and polish the surface to obtain the high-calcium soft candy containing fat-soluble vitamins.
[0046] Examples 2 and 3 are prepared using the formula and method provided in Example 1 to prepare gelatin gummies. The amount of gelatin and acidulant added in the formula for preparing gelatin gummies is used as a variable. The variables used in Examples 2 and 3 to prepare gelatin gummies are shown in Table 2. Except for the differences mentioned above, the operation steps for preparing gelatin gummies in Examples 2 and 3 are strictly consistent with those in Example 1.
[0047] Table 2
[0048] Comparative Examples 1-3 Comparative Examples 1-3 correspond to Examples 1-3, respectively. The difference is that the vitamin D3 oil, vitamin K2 oil, phospholipids and 10 g maltitol solution are added earlier than S4 emulsification and aeration, that is, after adding gelatin, before adjusting acidity and flavoring, and before emulsification and aeration. The remaining steps are exactly the same as the corresponding examples.
[0049] Experiment Example 1: Effect Verification Experiment The gummies prepared in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-3 were subjected to the following tests: Initial content determination: The vitamin D3 content should be tested immediately upon the production of the finished product.
[0050] Process loss rate: The vitamin D3 content in the initial solution and the final product of Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-3 was accurately measured (using HPLC method). Loss rate = (1 - finished product content / theoretical content of initial solution) × 100%.
[0051] Accelerated stability test: The finished gummy candies of Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-3 were placed in a constant temperature and humidity chamber at 37±2℃ and 75±5%RH. Samples were taken at 0, 1, 2 and 3 months to detect the retention rate of vitamin D3 (retention rate = content at that time point / content at 0 months × 100%).
[0052] The test results are shown in Tables 3 and 4.
[0053] Table 3 Comparison of Vitamin D3 Process Loss Rate
[0054] As shown in Table 3, the process loss rate of vitamin D3 using the aeration-fed process of the present invention is only 0.77%, which is much lower than the 21.03% of the traditional process. This indicates that the present invention effectively protects vitamin D3 from damage during the production process.
[0055] Table 4 Comparison of Vitamin D3 Retention Rate in Accelerated Tests
[0056] As shown in Table 4, after 3 months of accelerated testing, the vitamin D3 retention rate in the product of Example 1 of this invention reached 84.24%, while that in Comparative Example 2 was only 18.84%. This fully demonstrates that this invention not only reduces initial loss, but also significantly improves the stability of the product during its shelf life by improving the initial state of vitamins and the encapsulation effect, ensuring that the product meets the content requirements throughout its shelf life.
[0057] This invention successfully solves the problem of poor stability of fat-soluble vitamins in functional gummies by optimizing the feeding sequence and pretreatment process, and has extremely high industrial application value.
[0058] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions and variations to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A high-calcium gummy candy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins, characterized in that, Including the following parts by weight of raw materials: Sweetener 600-650 parts, calcium salt 240-280 parts, gelatin 50-70 parts, flavoring 3-8 parts, acidulant 5-15 parts, maltitol liquid 10-15 parts, phospholipid 0.5-2 parts, vitamin K2 oil 2-3 parts, vitamin D3 oil 0.04-0.06 parts, water 110-150 parts.
2. The high-calcium gummies for improving the stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sweetener is a sugar and / or a sugar alcohol; The calcium salt is any one or a mixture of calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, tricalcium phosphate, calcium lactate, and calcium gluconate.
3. The high-calcium gummies for improving the stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flavoring is any one or a mixture of apple flavoring, raspberry flavoring, strawberry flavoring, grape flavoring, peach flavoring, orange flavoring, lemon flavoring, mango flavoring, and lychee flavoring; The acidulant is any one or a mixture of citric acid, malic acid, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, and tartaric acid.
4. A method for preparing high-calcium gummies with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: (1) Preparation of sugar solution: Dissolve the sweetener in water and boil it until the solid content is 78-80% to obtain sugar solution; (2) Preparation of calcium salt mixture: Take calcium salt, add the calcium salt in dry powder form to sugar solution, emulsify until there are no particles, and obtain calcium salt mixture; (3) Preparation of gelatin solution: Weigh out gelatin and dissolve it in hot water to obtain gelatin solution; (4) Preparation of emulsified mixture: Add gelatin solution to calcium salt mixture and mix, then add flavoring and acidulant to obtain mixed liquid, and stir and emulsify and aerate it to make its density reach 1.11-1.15 g / cm³ to obtain emulsified mixture; (5) Preparation of nutrient solution: Take phospholipid and maltitol solution and disperse evenly, then add vitamin K2 oil and vitamin D3 oil, preheat and stir until there is no oil layer to obtain nutrient solution; (6) Preparation of final solution: Add the nutrient solution to the emulsion mixture and mix evenly to obtain the final solution; (7) Preparation of high-calcium soft candy containing fat-soluble vitamins: The final liquid is poured into a sugar mold, dried, demolded, and the surface is polished to obtain the high-calcium soft candy containing fat-soluble vitamins.
5. The method for preparing high-calcium gummies with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 4, characterized in that, The mass ratio of sweetener to water in step (1) is 40-60:30-50; the water temperature is 80℃-85℃; The boiling temperature is 100-120℃, and the pH of the sugar solution after boiling is 5.5-6.
5.
6. The method for preparing a high-calcium gummy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 4, characterized in that, In step (3), the mass ratio of gelatin to hot water is 50-70:60-80, and the temperature of the hot water is 50-60℃.
7. The method for preparing high-calcium gummies with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 4, characterized in that, The pH of the emulsified mixture in step (4) is 3.5-4.5; the solid content of the mixture is 68-72%; the emulsification and aeration are carried out in an emulsification tank for 5-10 minutes.
8. The method for preparing high-calcium gummies with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 4, characterized in that, In step (5), vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 need to be protected from light before feeding; the preheating temperature is 50-60℃.
9. The method for preparing a high-calcium gummy with improved stability of fat-soluble vitamins according to claim 4, characterized in that, The casting in step (7) is done by using starch molding or aluminum film molding, and the drying is carried out by dehumidification for 20-30 h at a temperature of 20-30℃ and a relative humidity of 20-30%.