AGGLOMERATION-PREVENTABLE SWEETENER COMPOSITION IN WHICH AGGLOMERATION IS PREVENTED, AND METHOD FOR PREPARING SAME

Abstract

The present invention relates to an agglomeration-preventable sweetener composition treated to prevent agglomeration and to a method for preparing same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an agglomeration-preventable sweetener composition treated to prevent agglomeration by coating sweetener powder particles with dietary fiber, and to a method for preparing same.

Claims

1. A method of preparing an agglomeration-inhibited sweetener material composition, comprising: (a) preparing a sweetener material powder by mixing a first sweetener material and a second sweetener material in a mixer for food preparation capable of liquid phase spray; wherein the first sweetener material is sucrose, and the second sweetener material is capable of inhibiting absorption of sucrose into body, (b) scattering an indigestible maltodextrin solution to the sweetener material powder and mixing the sweetener material powder with the indigestible maltodextrin to form a mixture of the first sweetener material, the second sweetener material, and the indigestible maltodextrin; and (c) drying the mixture of step (b) to form a coating layer on the sweetener material powder, thereby inhibiting agglomeration of the sweetener material powder.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first sweetener has an average particle size from 150 m to 300 m, and the second sweetener has an average particle size from 150 m to 350 m.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the amount of the first sweetener material and the second sweetener material is 95 wt % to 99.9 wt % based on a total weight of the sweetener composition, and the amount of the indigestible maltodextrin is 0.1 wt % to 5.0 wt % based on a total weight of the sweetener composition.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second sweetener material is xylose.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first sweetener material and the second sweetener material are mixed in a weight ratio of 1:0.05 to 1: 0.5.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sweetener material powder after drying has 0.2 wt % or less water content based on the total weight of the sweetener material powder.

7. A method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body, comprising: (a) preparing a sweetener material powder by mixing a first sweetener material and second sweetener material in a mixer for food preparation capable of liquid phase spray; wherein the first sweetener material is sucrose, and the second sweetener material is capable of inhibiting absorption of sucrose into body, (b) scattering an indigestible maltodextrin solution to the sweetener material powder and mixing the sweetener material powder with the indigestible maltodextrin to form a mixture of the first sweetener material, the second sweetener material, and the indigestible maltodextrin, (c) drying the mixture to form a coating layer on the sweetener material powder, and (d) administering the dried sweetener material powder to a subject in need thereof, thereby inhibiting sucrose absorption into the body of the subject.

8. The method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body according to claim 7, wherein the first sweetener has an average particle size from 150 m to 300 m, the second sweetener has an average particle size from 150 m to 350 m.

9. The method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body according to claim 7, wherein the amount of the first sweetener material and the second sweetener material is 95 wt % to 99.9 wt % based on a total weight of the sweetener composition, and the amount of the indigestible maltodextrin is 0.1 wt % to 5.0 wt % based on a total weight of the sweetener composition.

10. The method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body according to claim 7, wherein the second sweetener material is xylose.

11. The method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body according to claim 7, wherein the first sweetener material and the second sweetener material are mixed in a weight ratio of 1:0.05 to 1:0.5.

12. The method of inhibiting sucrose absorption into body according to claim 7, wherein the sweetener material powder after drying has 0.2 wt % or less water content based on the total weight of the sweetener material powder.

Description

MODE FOR INVENTION

[0029] Terms used herein are defined below.

[0030] The term sweetener as used herein refers to a generic term for seasonings to add sweetness and food additives.

[0031] The term sweetener material as used herein refers to a constitutional component constituting the sweetener.

[0032] The term dietary fiber as used herein is a component known as fibroid materials or cellulose contained mainly in vegetables, fruits, seaweeds and the like among the foods. The dietary fiber is a high molecular carbohydrate which is not digested by human digestive enzymes and discharged from the body.

[0033] The term solidification as used herein refers to an agglomeration phenomenon generated by moisture absorption by small particles. Such solidification can be frequently noticed in powdered products.

[0034] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples, comparative examples and comparative test examples. However, it should be understood that these examples, comparative examples and comparative test examples are provided for illustration only and are not to be in any way construed as limiting the present invention.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

Preparation of Solidification-prevented Sweetener Material Composition includes Sugar and Xylose)

[0035] 890 g of fine sugar commercially available from CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd.

[0036] (average particle size: about 220 m) and 95 g of xylose were added to a mixer, followed by uniformly mixing. Subsequently, 15 g of liquid indigestible maltodextrin (65 brix) was scattered into the mixed powder, thereby uniformly coating the powder. Next, the mixed sweetener material composition was transferred to a dryer. The mixed sweetener material composition was dried through a hot air drying method so that the water content was not more than 0.2 wt % based on the total weight of the mixed sweetener material composition, thereby obtaining 1 kg of the solidification-prevented sweetener material composition containing sugar and xylose.

Comparative Example 1

Preparation of Sweetener Material Composition by Simply Mixing Sugar and Xylose

[0037] 900 g of fine sugar commercially available from CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd. (average particle size: about 220 m) and 100 g of xylose (average particle size: about 260 m) were added to a mixer, followed by uniformly mixing. A sweetener material composition in which sugar and xylose are simply mixed was obtained so that the step of coating powder particles with dietary fiber such as a liquid indigestible maltodextrin as in Example 1 was omitted.

Comparative Test Example 1

Comparison Analysis for each Sweetener Material Composition using Particle Size Analyzer

[0038] The sweetener material compositions prepared in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, commercially available general sugar (CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd., average particle size: about 455 m) and commercially available fine sugar (CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd., average particle size: about 220 m) were obtained, and compared the particle size of the four sweetener material compositions using a particle size analyzer Standard Particle Size Analyzer (Chunggye Corporation).

[0039] As the particle size of powders is smaller, the surface area of powders absorbing moisture becomes wider, thereby enhancing powder agglomeration. Accordingly, the solidification phenomenon which is frequently noticed in powder products such as sweeteners becomes severer. In view of this point, measuring the particle size of powders could provide meaningful comparison data. The comparison results for the particle size of each sweetener material composition are shown in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Fine sugar + Xylose + Fine Indigestible Particle General Fine sugar + maltodextrin size Sugar Sugar Xylose Xylose coating Mesh (m) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 40 420 56.3 0.7 12.6 1.9 13.0 60 250 33.5 67.9 60.0 67.1 72.0 80 177 6.4 16.4 15.7 16.3 12.0 100 149 2.5 7.4 6.1 7.3 2.0 120 125 1.1 4.5 3.1 4.4 0.5 140 105 0.2 1.8 1.2 1.7 0.2 Average particle 455 220 260 224 296 size (m)

Comparative Test Example 2

Comparison Analysis of Solidification Phenomenon of Sweetener Material Composition Depending on Particle Size

[0040] The sweetener material compositions prepared in accordance with Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, a commercially available general sugar (CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd., average particle size: about 455 m) and a commercially available fine sugar (CJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd., average particle size: about 220 m) were obtained. A test for comparing the degree of solidification phenomenon generated in the four different sweetener material compositions was performed.

[0041] Testing was performed as follows. 1 kg of each of four sweetener material compositions was put into a package bag, followed by providing humidity while the package bag was open at 50 C. for 24 hours (0-24 hours from the start of the test). Subsequently, the compositions were dried 96 hours (24120 hours from the start of the test) while the degree of solidification of each sweetener material composition was observed for 24 hours. The comparison results of the degree of solidification are summarized in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Fine sugar + Xylose + Indigestible General Fine sugar + maltodextrin Sugar Fine Sugar Xylose coating Initiate Good Good Good Good (Hygroscopic) After 24 hours Good Good Good Good (dry) After 48 hours Solidification Weak Weak Solidification (dry) initiated solidification solidification initiated at at exposed initiated at initiated at exposed portion exposed exposed portion portion portion After 72 hours Weak Solidified Solidification Weak (dry) solidification Expansion at solidification initiated at exposed initiated at exposed portion exposed portion portion After 96 hours Solidification Solidified Solidified Weak (dry) Expansion at solidification exposed initiated at portion exposed portion After 120 Solidified Solidified Solidified Solidification hours (dry) Expansion at exposed portion

[0042] In Table 2, the term good represents that the powder state directly after opening of the package bag was maintained (the degree of solidification based on the total powder is approximately 0%). The term solidification initiated represents the powder state that the surface of powder exposed by opening the package bag started to solidify (within about 10% of degree of solidification). The term weak solidification represents the powder state that powder about 2 cm below the exposed surface of powder was solidified (about 20% degree of solidification). The term solidification expansion represents the powder state that weak solidification has been conducted throughout the powder (about 40% of degree of solidification). The term solidified represents the powder state that strong solidification occurred throughout the powder (about 80% of degree of solidification).

[0043] As the result of comparison analysis for degree of solidification, it was found that all the sweetener material compositions initiated solidification 48 hours after start of testing. The solidification phenomenon that could be problematic in powder products was noticed first in the fine sugar having the smallest particle size.

[0044] On the basis of particle size, it can be expected that general sugar (average particle size: about 455 m) having the largest particle size would begin to solidify the latest. However, from results of testing, it was observed that the sweetener material composition (average particle size: about 296 m) prepared in Example 1 having a particle size smaller than that of the general sugar solidified the latest. It was determined that this was because particles were coated with indigestible maltodextrin, which prevented agglomeration of sweetener material particles due to water absorption and temperature increase.

Example 2

Preparation of Solidification-prevented Sweetener Material Composition (including Sugar And Xylose) According to Preferable Compositional Ratio

[0045] In mixing sugar with xylose, sugar and xylose were mixed in a weight ratio of about 10:1 as shown in Table 3 as a desirable formulation ratio in order to achieve effective inhibition of sugar's absorption into the human body without affecting the functionality of the sweetener material composition (Fine sugarCJ Cheiljedang Co., Ltd., average particle size: about 220 m, Xyloseaverage particle size: about 260 m).

[0046] Subsequently, in order to determine the content of suitable indigestible maltodextrin such that sugar and xylose in a unit wherein sugar and xylose were uniformly mixed could be coated when coating the sweetener material composition mixed in the aforementioned formulation ratio, five samples in which the content of sugar, xylose and indigestible maltodextrin was adjusted as shown in Table 3 were prepared, followed by testing to measure time required to dry each sample and the content of xylose per 100 g of dried sweetener material composition.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Fine Indigestible Drying Content of xylose sugar Xylose maltodextrin Time per 100 g of (%) (%) (%) (min) composition (g) Formulation 89.5 10.0 0.5 25 8.00 Ratio (%) 89.5 9.5 1.0 35 9.20 89.0 9.5 1.5 40 9.45 89.0 9.0 2.0 50 8.95 86.5 8.5 5.0 120 8.40

[0047] As the result of testing, it was found that the preferred sample in which coating was conducted so that the composition powder had uniform quality and which was excellent in view of process efficiency due to short drying time had the formulation ratio including 89.0 wt % of sugar, 9.5 wt % of xylose and 1.5 wt % of indigestible maltodextrin based on the total weight of the sweetener material composition.