6533b831fe1ef96bd1298173

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sugar reduction in extruded cereal based products : impact of water content on the structure and molecular dynamics in such material

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Low-moisture biopolymer-based systems are commonly encountered in food. Obviously, understanding the physical basis of their quality: e.g texture, or performance over time or as a function of their composition is of primary importance. The objectives of this work were to evaluate how the presence of sucrose and water content affects physico-chemical properties. The physical stability of these materials were monitored through an insight at different molecular scales. Then the relations between the multi-scale studies were investigated. The effect of sucrose (0–20%) and feed water (10 and 15%) on extrusion blends was studied using a twin screw extruder under the same processing settings. The physical and microstructural properties of extruded products were examined at various RH. Reducing both sugar levels and feed water increased die pressure and specific mechanical energy, as a consequence, it reduced starch degradation and increased in viscosity. The effect was more pronounced with increasing feed water content. The increased die pressure resulted in higher expansion of the porous extrudates. Sucrose was shown to increase the bulk density and reduce the pore size, this was particularly evident by using neutron imaging technique. This technique was applied for the first time in extrudate. 2D tomography images indicated internal structural differences between extrudates containing different sucrose content and stored at low and high % RH, while 3D image analysis showed impact of these factors on pore size distribution and % porosity were not significant. The extruded samples were in the amorphous state as a result of starch gelatinization and sugar melting. Their thermal properties were analyzed with DSC and their Tg were studied. The DSC thermograms were thoroughly studied through a Gaussian deconvolution of the first derivative of their heat low. This approach evidenced a multiple phase behavior with different glass transitions in composite systems. They were associated with either a polymer-rich phase and/or a plasticizer-rich phase which behavior depended on the sample water content. Physical aging accompanied with an increase in rigidity at low aw, resulted in an increased bulk density and more pronounced with increasing sucrose content. Sorption isotherms showed the water content of extrudates decreased when product contains high sucrose at low aw range and the inverse effect was observed at high aw. Apparent kinetics of water diffusion showed two different sorption sites, the first kinetics was almost constant and could be adsorption phenomena at the surface. The second one reflected first an initial slowing in dynamics whereas a sharp increase was found at higher water content. Addition of sucrose or water decreased both Tgs in extrudates. Young's modulus showed water acts as anti-plasticizer at low aw, while it shows a plasticizing effect at high aw. A stability map can explain the brittle-ductile transition occurred below Tg. Fast field cycling NMR study at low frequency highlighted that T1 depended on sucrose and water content. T1 and T2 measured using Low field NMR decrease as a function of water content, while the impact pf sucrose were not significant. T2 showing a minimum probably indicating the exchange of protons of water and macromolecules in composite system. The impact of sucrose content was not significant for T1 and for T2 at low water content. FFC NMR showed T1 results consistent with the LF NMR measurement.In conclusion, physicochemical studies of the influence of water and sucrose content on glassy materials showed that the material properties can be investigated at different levels from the macro- to the microscopic scale and these results clearly presented the need for complementary techniques to probe the dynamics in the glassy state of heterogeneous food systems that could be facilitated to manage the stability during storage of this type of dry products.