Chewy Candy Texture via Allulose Seeding and Fiber Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in producing chewy candies using allulose, which becomes soft when hot and hard when cool due to its high solubility and low crystallization speed, and the classical candy-making process dissolves crystals, failing to maintain desired texture and bulk.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a 40/60 to 60/40 ratio of allulose and soluble dietary fibers, with increased crystalline allulose seeding, reduced shear rate, and a double mixing stage to control temperature and prevent crystal dissolution, ensuring chewiness and avoiding stickiness and hardening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If allulose is used as the primary crystallizing ingredient in chewy candies, then the candy provides a low-calorie alternative to traditional sugar-based candies, but the candy becomes soft when hot and hard when cool due to high solubility and low crystallization speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces soluble dietary fibers as intermediary substances that facilitate crystal formation in allulose-based candies. These fibers act as nucleation sites and structural scaffolds that compensate for allulose's slow crystallization kinetics, enabling the formation of a stable crystalline network that maintains texture across temperature variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite material system combining allulose with soluble dietary fibers. This composite approach leverages the low-calorie properties of allulose while using the fiber component to provide structural integrity and promote crystallization, thereby achieving both health benefits and sensory quality.
2Ease of manufacture
If the classical candy-making process is used with allulose, then the manufacturing process remains simple and familiar, but the crystals dissolve due to high solubility, failing to maintain desired texture and bulk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies key process parameters including cooking temperature, cooling rate, and agitation intensity to optimize crystal formation and stability in allulose-based candies. These parameter adjustments are tailored to allulose's unique solubility and crystallization characteristics, enabling precise control over texture and structure while maintaining process simplicity.
3Reliability
If traditional sugar is used as the primary crystallizing ingredient, then the candy achieves desired texture and bulk through easy crystallization, but the candy contains high calories and is less suitable for health-conscious consumers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically optimizes formulation parameters including allulose-to-fiber ratio, moisture content, and cooking temperature to replicate the sensory properties of traditional sugar candies. This parameter optimization enables allulose to function as an effective sugar substitute while maintaining texture quality and reducing calorie content.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This process maintains chewiness, prevents hardening over time, reduces stickiness, and avoids cold flow, achieving a stable texture similar to traditional candies without altering existing manufacturing processes.
Implementation Method 1
seeding a 40/60 to 60/40 ratio by weight of allulose and soluble dietary fiber blended in a mixer or a puller with 10 to 25 % by weight of the total dry weight of the candy of crystalline allulose particles
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention pertains to a method of preparation of chewy candies comprising branched maltodextrins and crystalline allulose particles in such a way to maintain chewiness, to bring the "body" of the chew, to limit sandiness, to avoid hardening with time and to lower stickiness textures, and even in such a way to avoid cold flow.