Amorphous porous particles for reducing sugar in food
The present invention relates to amorphous porous particles comprising sugar, a bulking agent and surfactant, having a closed porosity of between 20 to 60%. Further aspects of the invention relate to a food product comprising the amorphous porous particles; a process of making the amorphous porous particles and a fat based confectionery product containing them; and the use of the amorphous porous particles as bulk sugar replacers in food products such as fat based confectionery products for example, chocolate.
1. A fat-based confectionery product comprising amorphous porous particles comprising sugar, a bulking agent and a surfactant, wherein the amorphous porous particles have a closed porosity of between 20 to 60%.
2. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous porous particles have a glass transition temperature of at least 40° C.
3. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 , wherein a D90 particle size of the amorphous porous particles is below 60 microns.
4. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous porous particles have been refined.
5. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous porous particles comprise sucrose and skimmed milk, wherein the sucrose is present at a level of at least 30%, and a ratio of the sucrose to the skimmed milk is between 0.5 to 1 and 2.5 to 1 on a dry weight basis.
6. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 , wherein the fat-based confectionery product is chocolate.
7. The fat-based confectionery product according to claim 1 comprising 5-60 wt % of the amorphous porous particles.
8. A process of making amorphous porous particles for a fat-based confectionery product, the amorphous porous particles comprising sugar, a bulking agent and a surfactant, wherein the amorphous porous particles have a closed porosity of between 20 to 60%, the process comprising:
subjecting a mixture comprising sugar, bulking agent and surfactant to a pressure;
adding gas to the mixture;
spraying and drying the mixture to form amorphous porous particles; and
reducing a particle size of the amorphous porous particles.
9. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon, nitrous oxide, and combinations thereof.
10. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the amorphous porous particles are agglomerated during or after the spraying and drying.
11. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the fat-based confectionery product is chocolate.
12. The process according to claim 8 further comprising providing the amorphous porous particles as a sugar replacer in the fat-based confectionery product.
13. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the pressure is from 50 to 300 bar.
14. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the pressure is from 100 to 200 bar.