JPH0466541B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a low-calorie sweetener composition, and more particularly, to a low-calorie sweetener composition containing powdered or granular maltitol having a natural appearance visually similar to sucrose. Maltitol is a type of sugar alcohol obtained by reducing maltitose. Its sweetness is similar to that of sucrose, and it is mellow. Its sweetness is about 90% that of sucrose. Furthermore, it is easily digested in the body. Since it is difficult to absorb, it has already been put into practical use as a low-calorie sweetener in some places in recent years. However, while sugar, which has been widely used in the past, has a moist, heavy feel, transparency, and luster, powdered or granular maltitol has a dry white appearance and is difficult to use as a chemical. Consumers who have been familiar with the habit of using natural sugar for many years are reluctant to use it regularly as a sweetener because of its natural feel. The present inventors have developed powdered or granular maltitol so that it can be used without daily resistance in the same way as sugar.
As a result of intensive research to improve its appearance, especially weight, gloss, transparency, etc. and give it a natural look, we found powdered or granular maltitol with a predetermined particle size distribution and maltitol with a predetermined particle size distribution. The present invention was developed based on the discovery that by blending sugar, particularly granulated sugar, in a predetermined ratio, a natural feeling that is extremely similar in appearance to sugar can be imparted. The low calorie sweetener composition of the present invention has a particle size of
Contains 20-86 parts by weight of saccharides containing 80% by weight or more of powder or granules with a particle size of 840-300 μm per 100 parts by weight of maltitol containing 70% by weight or more of powder or granules with a particle size of 840-300 μm. It is characterized by In order for the sweetener of the present invention to be a low-calorie sweetener composition, the content of saccharides must be 86 parts by weight or less per 100 parts by weight of maltitol in view of legal regulations. On the other hand, when the sugar content is less than 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of maltitol, the dry white color of the powdered or granular maltitol becomes predominant, the gloss of the composition is lost, and the visual sense of naturalness is lost. I don't like it because it's inferior. As the saccharide, any natural saccharide other than maltitol can be used, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc., and granulated sugar, which is sucrose, is particularly preferably used. In addition, in order for the sweetener composition of the present invention to have the above-mentioned luster and other natural sensations, the main coarse component should be composed of sugars such as granulated sugar, and the main fine component should be composed of powdered or granular maltitol. In particular, in accordance with the present invention, at least 70% by weight of the powdered or granular maltitol must have a particle size of 590
~200 μm, and by making at least 80% by weight of the sugar have a particle size in the range of 840 to 300 μm, the resulting composition has a weight feel and transparency that are very similar to sugar. , gloss, etc. Furthermore, the less overlap in particle size distribution between maltitol and sugar, the more natural the product will look. To give an example of a particularly preferable particle size distribution, for maltitol, 1000 to 590 μm is 0 to 10% by weight,
590-200μm is 70-100%, 200μm or less is 0-20
For sugar, 840 μm or more is 0-5% by weight, 840-300 μm is 80-100% by weight,
300 μm or less is 0 to 15% by weight. In order to give maltitol a predetermined particle size, it can be granulated using an appropriate binder, if necessary. During this granulation, the strength of the resulting granular multistol can be increased by using, for example, guar gum, gum arabic, dextrin, or the like as a binder. In addition, since the sweetness intensity of maltitol is lower than that of sucrose, if high sweetener ingredients and acidity ingredients such as stevioside, α-glycosyl stevioside, and saccharin are added to the binder solution, the sweetness intensity of maltitol can be increased. It is possible to adjust the taste properties, etc., and it is possible to approximate not only the appearance but also the taste properties and usability to sugar. As described above, a composition obtained by mixing powdered or granular maltitol and sugar by controlling their respective particle size distributions and mixing ratios is extremely similar to sugar in appearance and is a conventional low-calorie sweetener. Since it has a natural feel that is not found in other compositions, it can be used without any hesitation even by consumers who have been accustomed to using sugar for many years. The sweetener composition of the present invention will be explained in detail below based on experimental examples. Experimental Example Experiment 1 Commercially available maltitol powder (Multitol MT-90 manufactured by Towa Kasei Co., Ltd.) having the particle size distribution shown in Figure 1 was granulated using a fluidized bed granulator using water as a binder, and classified using a sifter. Granular maltitol having the particle size distribution shown in FIG. 2 was obtained. This is called maltitol A. Next, the same commercially available maltitol powder as above was granulated in a fluidized bed granulator using an aqueous solution of α-glycosylstevioside as a binder so that it had the same sweetness intensity as sugar in volume, and Granular maltitol having the particle size distribution shown in FIG. 3 was obtained. This is called maltitol B. The maltitol A and granulated sugar having the particle size distribution shown in FIG. 4 were mixed in various proportions as shown in Table 1, and the approval rate for the natural feel was determined by 20 housewife monitors. Here, the term "natural feel" refers to the visual impression of appearance, such as weight, luster, and transparency that natural sugar has. In addition, the taste was also evaluated. This taste property was tested by adding each of the sweetener compositions shown in Table 1 to coffee as a test material so that it would have the same sweetness as when 6g of sugar was added to coffee at 60℃. Eight people compared each of the compositions shown in the table six times in a pairwise comparison of two types, and evaluated which one was better. As a result, there was no significant difference between the sweetener compositions of experiment numbers 2 and 3, but there was a significant difference between experiment numbers 1 and 2 and between 1 and 3. It was confirmed that it has practical utility. The sweetener composition of Experiment No. 1 had a powdery appearance and had a strong chemical impression.
The natural feel was rejected by 90% of the monitors, and the flavoring agent was not supported because the onset of sweetness was slow. The taste characteristics of the sweetener compositions of Experiment Nos. 2 and 3 were supported. Experiment 2 A sweetener composition was prepared by mixing maltitol and granulated sugar with different particle size distributions as shown in Table 2 in a ratio of 100 parts by weight of maltitol to 40 parts by weight of granulated sugar, and a sweetener composition was prepared by a housewife monitor. 20 people evaluated the natural feel. The results are shown in Table 3. 80 layers of granules with a particle size of 590 to 200 μm

[Table] Weight parts.
% maltitol and particle size 840-300μm
The sweetener composition of the present invention, which is a mixture of granulated sugar containing 90% by weight of granules, obtained a high acceptance rate.

【table】

[Table] Experiment 3 A sweetener composition was prepared by mixing the maltitol B and the granulated sugar at different mixing ratios as shown in Table 4, and a consumer monitoring test was conducted. The results are shown in Table 4. It also shows the calorie content of the sweetener composition. For the sweetener compositions of experiment numbers 13 and 14,
Because the blending ratio of granulated sugar is too low,

[Table] Appearance was powdery, gave a strong chemical impression, and lacked a sense of weight, resulting in a low approval rating.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a particle size distribution diagram of conventional maltitol, Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the particle size distribution of maltitol used in the composition of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the particle size distribution of maltitol used in the present invention. FIG. 4, which is a diagram showing another example of the diameter distribution, is a diagram showing the particle diameter distribution of the saccharides used in the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 70% of powder or granules with a particle size of 590 to 200 μm
Powder or granules with a particle size of 840 to 300 μm are added to 100 parts by weight of maltitol containing % by weight or more.
A low-calorie sweetener composition characterized by containing 20 to 86 parts by weight of saccharides containing 80% by weight or more.