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Rheological behavior of syrups containing sugar substitutes

Article  in  European Food Research and Technology · March 2004

DOI: 10.1007/s00217-004-0876-7

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Eur Food Res Technol (2004) 218:345–348
DOI 10.1007/s00217-004-0876-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Ramakrishna Chetana · Sripathi Krishnamurthy ·
Sunki Reddy Yella Reddy
Rheological behavior of syrups containing sugar substitutes
Received: 27 October 2003 / Published online: 3 February 2004

Springer-Verlag 2004
Abstract The rheological properties of syrups prepared
using bulk sweeteners such as sorbitol and bulking agents
like maltodextrin and polydextrose along with aspartame
were studied. The apparent viscosity, consistency index,
yield stress, and flow behavior index were determined
from the shear stress versus shear rate data. The Her-
schel–Bulkley model was found to adequately describe
the flow behavior of the syrups. The activation energy for
all the syrups at different concentrations was determined
from the Arrhenius equation. The yield stress, flow
behavior index, and consistency index were dependent on
the temperature and concentration of the syrups. The
apparent viscosity increased from 8.8 to 129 mPa·s for
sugar and sorbitol syrups, respectively, over the concen-
tration range from 35 to 65%. In general, the rheological
characteristic of sorbitol syrup was similar to that of sugar
syrup, while syrups made with polydextrose and its
mixture with maltodextrin were significantly different
from those of sugar syrup.
Keywords Apparent viscosity · Consistency index ·
Yield stress · Flow behavior index · Activation energy ·
Syrups · Sweeteners
Introduction
Rheological properties are considered to be important, not
only in the design of food processing equipment and
handling systems, but also in quality control and sensory
R. Chetana · S. R. Yella Reddy ())
Department of Lipid Science and Traditional Foods,
Central Food Technological Research Institute,
570013 Mysore, India
e-mail: sy_reddy@yahoo.com
Tel.: +91-821-2514153
Fax: +91-821-2517233
S. Krishnamurthy
Department of Central Instrumentation Facilities and Services,
Central Food Technological Research Institute,
570013 Mysore, India
evaluation of food [1]. The flow behavior characteristics
of various food products, particularly jams, jellies,
spreads, and syrups, which contain high or moderate
levels of sugar and/or very small amounts of gelling
agents, have been widely studied by many investigators
[2, 3, 4]. These studies indicated that the rheological
properties and sensory attributes of the final product were
affected by the amount and type of bulking agent used,
and the temperature of processing [4].
Low-calorie food products and low amounts of sugar
are gaining increasing acceptance by consumers. Thus,
substitutes are of special importance to the researchers
dealing with the development of such low-calorie and
low-sugar products. The discovery of a large number of
sweeteners over the past few decades has also led to the
development of such types of products, particularly for
weight watchers and among people with diabetes, using a
special diet, or prone to obesity [4]. A product with
reduced sugar can be adequately matched in sweetness
using an intense sweetener such as aspartame, saccharin,
etc. The challenge, however, lies in how to match the
other functions provided by sugar. The major concern at
present is the effect of sugar on the different aspects of
the product, including the rheological properties of the
finished product.
Studies have been reported on the flow behavior of
syrups containing water-soluble polymers, gums, and
sugar substitutes, which are often used to thicken sugar
and syrup solutions. The flow behavior of sugar substi-
tutes and gums was studied and compared with that of
sugar-based model systems [4]. Flow curves of starch and
glucose syrups along with a variety of modifiers such as
pectin, alginate, and guar gum have also been studied [5].
The organoleptic properties and acceptability of low-
and reduced-calorie foods have not been studied in detail
with particular reference to the behavior of the finished
product. These properties are dependent on the type and
amount of sugar substitute used in the formulations. A
limited number of investigations have been conducted
concerning the sensory attributes of reduced-calorie food
products [6, 7].
346

The objective of the present study is to investigate the
flow behavior of dispersions containing commonly used
sugar substitutes, such as sorbitol, polydextrose (PD), and
mixtures of PD and maltodextrin (MD) along with added
aspartame, while sucrose solution has been used for
comparison. Such results can be useful during the
development of low-sugar or reduced-calorie products.
Materials and methods
Sucrose (cane sugar) with moisture content of 6.4% was procured
from the supermarket in Mysore, India. Sorbitol concentrate (67.5%
solid) was obtained from Maize Products, Ahmedabad, India.
Polydextrose (Litesse II) with molecular weight ranging from 162
to 10,000 was procured from Cultor Food Science, Xyrofin GmbH,
Hamburg, Germany. Maltodextrin having 16% dextrose equivalent
was obtained from Sukhjit Starch and Chemicals Ltd., Phagwara,
Punjab, India. Aspartame used in the study was obtained from
Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
Sucrose solution and other dispersions
Sucrose solutions of concentrations 35, 45, 55, and 65% solids were
prepared. Sorbitol concentrate was diluted with distilled water to
obtain solutions with the required concentrations (35, 45, 55, and
65%). Polydextrose was dispersed in water and warmed at 85 C for
3–4 min to obtain a clear solution. The mixture of polydextrose and
maltodextrin (PD+MD) (1:1 dry basis) was prepared in a similar
manner. Aspartame was added to sorbitol, polydextrose, and
PD+MD syrups at equi-sweetness levels to that of sugar (0.25 g/
100 ml for sorbitol syrup and 0.7 g/100 ml for polydextrose and
PD+MD). All the solutions were held at ambient temperature
(26€1 C) for 1 h prior to use.
Rheological measurements
A universal controlled-stress rheometer (Model #SR5, Rheometric
Scientific, New Jersey, USA) with a coaxial cylinder having a
rotating bob of external diameter 28.8 mm and a stationary cup of
inner diameter 30.0 mm was used for the rheological measure-
ments. A fixed volume of samples (30 ml) was used while
maintaining the temperature of measurement at 25, 40, 60, and
80 C employing a circulatory water bath. Syrups of 35, 45, 55, and
65% solids were subjected to increasing shear rates from 10 to
100 s1 in 100 s to obtain 19 data sets comprising shear rate, shear
stress, and viscosity/apparent viscosity values. All rheological
measurements were conducted in triplicate. The software supplied
by the equipment manufacturer was used to examine the suitability
of common rheological models and viscosity at a shear rate of
25 s1. The parameters of the Herschel–Bulkley model (Eq. 1) such
as yield stress, consistency index, and flow behavior index were
obtained from shear stress versus shear rate data. The extent of
fitting to models was judged by finding the coefficient of
determination (r2) and checking its statistical significance at a
probability (P) level of 0.01.
s ¼ s0 þ Kn ð1Þ
where s is shear stress, s0 is yield stress, K is consistency index, 
is shear rate, and n is flow behavior index.
Results and discussion
The rheological behavior of syrups was studied over the
concentrations of 35 to 65% solids at 25, 40, 60, and
80 C. The rheograms comprising shear stress and shear
rate for different samples indicate non-Newtonian shear
thinning behavior except for sorbitol and sucrose solu-
tions. Between the power law and Herschel–Bulkley
models, the latter was more suitable (r2>0.994) to fit shear
stress/shear rate data. Similar observations were made
with gum solutions and it was found that solutions of
pseudoplastic-type gums became thinner as the shear rate
was increased [2]. The results in Table 1 show that the
apparent viscosity (h) increased with increasing the
concentration of the syrup from 25 to 65% solids, while
it decreased markedly with an increase in temperature.
The apparent viscosity increased from 8.8 to 129 mPa·s
for sugar, 7.3 to 83.0 mPa·s for sorbitol, 4.75 to
287.5 mPa·s for PD, and 12.8 to 248 mPa·s for MD+PD
syrups over the concentration range from 35 to 65%. A
similar trend was reported for blackcurrant and mango
juice concentrates [8, 9].
The consistency index markedly increases with solid
concentration but decreases with temperature (Fig. 1).
For example, at 25 C the consistency index of 65%
polydextrose syrup showed the maximum value of

Table 1 Apparent Vviscosity Concentration Temperature

(mPa·s) of solutions /disper- (% solids)
sions, at shear rate 25 s -1 25 C 40 C 60 C 80 C
Sugar 35 8.80 7.51 6.41 6.12
45 10.14 9.94 8.32 6.78
55 23.98 19.01 14.67 9.51
65 129.24 41.00 26.00 16.50
Sorbitol 35 7.32 6.45 6.09 5.40
45 9.50 9.20 8.00 7.20
55 20.90 15.90 10.50 10.00
65 83.00 38.00 20.50 12.80
Polydextrose (PD) 35 14.75 11.90 9.93 9.46
45 28.80 23.30 15.10 11.63
55 92.66 68.54 37.43 31.00
65 287.50 158.45 92.68 38.77
Maltodextrin +polydextrose 35 12.80 10.10 9.30 8.31
(MD+PD) 45 23.20 17.40 14.80 10.80
55 70.80 43.20 31.53 22.10
65 248.00 127.40 85.71 36.26

Fig. 1 Consistency index of syrups at different temperatures and
concentrations
Fig. 2 Yield stress of syrups containing sugar substitutes at
different temperatures and concentrations
347
Fig. 3 Flow behavior index (FBI) of syrups at different tempera-
tures and concentrations
253.1 mPa·s-sn followed by the mixture of MD+PD syrup
with 226.4 mPa·s-sn.
The yield stress, which represents the minimum stress
that is needed to initiate flow [10], ranged from 199.4 to
85.2 mPa for polydextrose samples and from 164 to
40.4 mPa for the mixtures of MD+PD. These are the
values for the entire range of temperatures (25 to 80 C)
and concentrations (35 to 65 C) (Fig. 2). The maximum
magnitude of yield stress was observed for the polydex-
trose syrup compared to the others. Similar results were
reported for mango concentrates [11].
The flow behavior index (n) of syrups was less than 1
(except for sugar and sorbitol), which indicates their
pseudoplastic shear-thinning nature (Fig. 3). Similar
results were observed in studies carried out for salad
dressings [12]. The n values decrease markedly when
solid concentration is increased, while the effect of
temperature is opposite in nature.
The effect of temperature on the apparent viscosity of
syrups can be explained by the Arrhenius equation to
determine activation energy (Eq. 2).
h ¼ h0 e
ðEa =RT Þ ð2Þ
where h is the apparent viscosity (at a shear rate of
25 s1), h0 is the Arrhenius constant, Ea is the activation
energy, R is the universal gas constant, and T is absolute
temperature.
The Arrhenius equation has been successfully used to
predict the temperature dependence of sugar-rich foods
such as tamarind juice concentrates [13], clarified banana
juice [14], and processed honeys [15]. The activation
348
Table 2 Activation energies of samples at different concentrations Conclusions
Sample Type of syrup Activation energy Ea
no. (kJ/g/mole) Sugar and sorbitol solutions behave like Newtonian fluids
while all the other syrups studied exhibited shear-thin-
Sugar
1 35 5.88 ning, non-Newtonian behavior with a yield stress. The
2 45 6.58 results indicated that the flow behavior of polydextrose
3 55 14.32 and mixture of maltodextrin and polydextrose (MD+PD)
4 65 30.09 syrups could be well represented by the Herschel–Bulkley
Sorbitol
1 35 4.56
model. The yield stress, flow behavior index, and con-
2 45 5.46 sistency index were dependent both on temperature and
3 55 12.43 concentration. The activation energy, as calculated by
4 65 29.32 using the Arrhenius equation, increased with an increase
Polydextrose (PD) in concentration of solids. The requirement of specific
1 35 7.15
2 45 14.94 viscosity in syrups containing PD or PD+MD mixtures
3 55 18.45 similar to that of sucrose could be obtained at lower solids
4 65 30.90 content compared to sucrose, whereas in substitutes it is
Maltodextrin+polydextrose slightly higher.
(MD+PD)
1 35 6.41
2 45 11.56 Acknowledgements The authors thank Dr. B.R. Lokesh, Dr. K.N.
3 55 17.89 Gurudatt, heads of the departments, and Dr. V. Prakash, Director of
4 65 29.02 the Institute for their keen interest in the work.

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