About: Hard candy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 401 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3223 citations. The topic is also known as: boiled sweet.
TL;DR: This review summarizes the concepts of water content, water activity, and glass transition and documents their importance to quality and shelf life of confections.
Abstract: From hardening of marshmallow to graining of hard candies, moisture plays a critical role in determining the quality and shelf life of sugar-based confections. Water is important during the manufacturing of confections, is an important factor in governing texture, and is often the limiting parameter during storage that controls shelf life. Thus, an understanding of water relations in confections is critical to controlling quality. Water content, which is controlled during candy manufacturing through an understanding of boiling point elevation, is one of the most important parameters that governs the texture of candies. For example, the texture of caramel progresses from soft and runny to hard and brittle as the moisture content decreases. However, knowledge of water content by itself is insufficient to controlling stability and shelf life. Understanding water activity, or the ratio of vapor pressures, is necessary to control shelf life. A difference in water activity, either between candy and air or between two domains within the candy, is the driving force for moisture migration in confections. When the difference in water activity is large, moisture migration is rapid, although the rate of moisture migration depends on the nature of resistances to water diffusion. Barrier packaging films protect the candy from air whereas edible films inhibit moisture migration between different moisture domains within a confection. More recently, the concept of glass transition, or the polymer science approach, has supplemented water activity as a critical parameter related to candy stability. Confections with low moisture content, such as hard candy, cotton candy, and some caramels and toffees, may contain sugars in the amorphous or glassy state. As long as these products remain below their glass transition temperature, they remain stable for very long times. However, certain glassy sugars tend to be hygroscopic, rapidly picking up moisture from the air, which causes significant changes that lead to the end of shelf life. These products need to be protected from moisture uptake during storage. This review summarizes the concepts of water content, water activity, and glass transition and documents their importance to quality and shelf life of confections.
TL;DR: The stabilities of three natural blue colorants (gardenia blue, phycocyanin and indigo) toward heat and light were studied in simple solutions of various pH.
Abstract: The stabilities of three natural blue colorants—gardenia blue, phycocyanin and indigo—toward heat and light were studied in simple solutions of various pH. Gardenia blue was found to be stable at temperatures up to 80 °C in aqueous solution at pH 3, 5 and 7. Exposure to light of 3×105 lux for 24 hours resulted in approximately 50% degradation of gardenia blue in aqueous solution. Phycocyanin was found to be unstable to heat and light in aqueous solution. Phycocyanin is insoluble in acidic solution (pH 3) and denatures at temperatures above 45 °C at pH 5 and 7, leading to a color change. Exposure to light of 3×105 lux for 24 hours in aqueous solution at pH 5 and 7 caused ~80% degradation. Indigo was found to be stable in medium-chain-triglyceride oil for temperatures up to 90 °C, but to photodegrade (by approximately 70% after five hours of exposure to 3×105 lux), corresponding to a quantum yield of 1.8×10−4 mol Einstein−1 for visible light and 1.4×10−2 mol Einstein−1 for UV, as determined for monochromatic light of 600 and 313 nm, respectively. Exploratory studies have been carried out with the three blue colorants in application media such as soft drink, jelly gum, hard candy and sugar coating for soft candy. Despite its lower stability towards heat and light, phycocyanin was concluded to be the more versatile blue food colorant among the three studied, showing a bright blue color in jelly gum and coated soft candy.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of texture on aroma and taste perception dynamics using both profile method to obtain global information and the Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) method for dynamic information.
Abstract: Many studies deal with the impact of texture on aroma and taste perceptions, but only a few address their temporal evolution during consumption. In order to better understand perception mechanisms, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of candy texture on aroma and taste perception dynamics using both profile method to obtain global information and the Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) method for dynamic information. Results showed that texture (ranging from liquid to hard gels) influenced aroma and taste sequences perceived during consumption. For example, a hard candy (15% gelatin) was described as having an initial “butter” sensation, followed by a “strawberry” perception, whereas a soft candy (2% gelatin) was described successively by sour, “green”, and “strawberry” perceptions. Despite the different sensory mechanisms involved in evaluating global or temporal sensations, similar results were obtained by TDS and profile methods concerning perceived intensities of aromatic and taste perceptions. They highlighted a decrease in aroma and taste intensities when firmness increased. To conclude, the additional information obtained with TDS concerning the temporal dimension of perception confirmed the interest of such a method to better understand the dynamics of the phenomena involved in texture–flavor interactions.
TL;DR: In this paper, a cough drop is provided comprising a hard candy outer shell and a powdered centerfill containing a rapidly-dissolving powder such as dextrose monohydrate and an active ingredient such as menthol and eucalyptus which is preferably in the form of a liquid blend and a spray-dried powder.
Abstract: A cough drop is provided comprising a hard candy outer shell and a powdered centerfill containing a rapidly-dissolving powder such as dextrose monohydrate and an active ingredient such as menthol and eucalyptus which is preferably in the form of a liquid blend and a spray-dried powder. The hard candy outer shell also contains menthol and eucalyptus as a liquid blend. When the outer shell is dissolved in the mouth or the centerfill is bitten into, the rapidly-dissolving powder acts to enhance the active-ingredient's activity in the mouth so that a discernible vaporization of active-ingredient is felt.
TL;DR: In this paper, anthocyanins derived from purple carrots were extracted, and identified by using HPLC, and used as alternative natural red colorants for preparing hard candy and sweet jelly and also red carrot pigment used as natural antioxidant on sunflower oil to delay the rancidity of sunflower vegetable oil.