The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on moisture sorption characteristics of hard candy

Abstract

This study assessed effects of intrinsic factors, composition and candy size, and extrinsic factors, storage temperature, and humidity, on moisture sorption characteristics of hard candy. Nine types of plain hard candy with various percentage of sucrose (45.0 to 65.0% wt/wt) and citric acid (0.0 to 1.0% wt/wt) were prepared. The prepared samples had surface area per weight ratio (SA/W) of 2.05 to 3.69 cm2/g. Moisture sorption isotherms of all candy formulations were built at 25 °C and 35 °C and were well‐represented by Guggenheim‐Anderson‐de Boer (GAB) model (R2 between 0.9634 and 0.9960). Compositions and SA/W significantly affected moisture sorption characteristics of hard candies. Increasing citric acid content increased rate of moisture uptake, while increasing SA/W decreased absorption rate. Additionally, the predictive models for rate of moisture uptake of candies with different compositions and SA/W at 25 °C and 35 °C and 75% relative humidity based on second‐order response surface methodology were developed and validated. Practical applications Moisture sorption isotherms built and the obtained models of moisture uptake could be used as a guideline to predict moisture sorption characteristics or to estimate shelf life of hard candies, with known compositions and/or storage conditions.

Effects of sugar composition on shelf life of hard candy: Optimization study using D‐optimal mixture design of experiments

“…According to Ergun et al (), the moisture content can vary from 3% to 5% in commercial products while the required shelf life is retained. A similar result was previously reported by Netramai et al (), who estimated that the critical moisture content of most products tested was <4% using adsorption isotherms. They reported that formulations with high sucrose content (65%) had a critical moisture content of approximately 5%.…”

“…A nonconstant range of residuals was observed across the plot of residuals versus predicted response values. A funnel-shaped pattern in this plot indicated the need for a transformation in the form of Equation (7) (Myers et al, 2016).…”

“…Confectioneries encompass a wide variety of products, but the oldest and most traditional are hard candies. Hard candies can be defined as a liquid mixture of sucrose and corn syrup that is maintained in an amorphous or vitreous state by cooking at high temperatures, in which the majority of the water has been removed (Netramai, Kijchavengkul, Sompoo, & Kungnimit, ). The moisture content after cooking ranges from 2 to 3% w/w.…”

Sweet Potato Gummy Sorption Isotherm: Product Development and Stability Analysis

“…This behavior generally represents the sorption phenomena in biological materials, and is characterized by a J-shaped curve (Al-Muhtaseb et al, 2002). Similar results were obtained for confectionery products such as Turkish delight (Gögtüş et al, 1998), hard candies containing sorbitol and isomalt (Hadjikinova et al, 2003) and hard candies with sucrose and citric acid (Netramai et al, 2018).…”

The Effect of Myristica fragrans on Texture Properties and Shelf-Life of Innovative Chewable Gel Tablets

“…Citric acid is used as an antioxidant, a preservative and a taste coregent in hard candies at a concentration of 0–1% [ 54 ] and in gummy candies from 2.5% to 4.5% [ 55 ]. In this study, 0.96% citric acid concentration was not only used as a preservative for the chewable gel tablets but also to produce a better taste.…”