Soft gels may be used to develop low sugar foods, study reveals

Soft gels with inhomogeneous distributions of sucrose could be used to develop low sugar foods, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

During the study, researchers analysed layered gels with various different mechanical and breakdown properties (soft, medium and hard gels) and distributions of sucrose in the matrix (homogeneous and inhomogeneous distributions) to evaluate the effects of texture and spatial distribution of sucrose on the perception of sweetness.

The results revealed that all gels with inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose were perceived to be sweeter compared with the gels in which sucrose was homogeneously distributed.

Time intensity profiling showed that soft gels were perceived to have the highest sweetness intensity when they had low values of fracture stress and strain, and broke down in several fragments upon chewing.

In addition, soft gels required lower time to reach maximum sweetness intensity.