CA1340757C - Food sweetener containing saccharose and a strong sweetener; processes for preparing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

New granular sweetening food product comprising saccharose and at least one intense sweetener, characterized in that it contains from 50 to 99 % by weight of saccharose and from 1 to 50 % of at least one intense or strong sweetener, in that its apparent density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g/cm<3>, preferably between 0.45 and 0.55 g/cm<3>, and in that the mean diameter of the grains is between 150 and 500 mu m, preferably equal to about 200 mu m. The new product of the invention is stable in storage conditions. It is easy to handle. It is also easy to dose accurately and has a sweetening power equal to that of saccharose and brings in a reduced, practically negligible number of calories. The sweetening product may be added to various food products such as beverages, ice creams, dairy products such as yaourts and white cheese, confectionery, as well as food products in the form of powders.

Description

1 13 ~ p't ~ '~
The present invention relates to a new food sweetener product with based on sucrose and intense sweetener as well as methods for the to prepare. More specifically, the present invention relates to a new granular sweetener containing sucrose and at least one intense sweetener; the amount of which can reach 50% by weight of the said product sweetener.
Intense sweeteners, such as saccharin, saccharinates, acesulfame, and especially sweeteners of the dipeptide type, i.e. esters of faspartyl-phenylalanine, the most used of which is methyl ester, fa-L-aspartyl-L- phenylalanine methyl ester, known under the brand name trade in asp.artame (AP), are widely used in industry food due to their high sweetness - at least equal to about 1 SO
times that of sucrose.
Some properties of intense sweeteners can, however, make them difficult to use and in particular cause problems during their incorporation in food products. Among these, we can cite - their poor solubility and low wettability;
- the fact that they become sticky to moisture and tend to form agglomerates;
- their extremely high sweetening power which makes their dosage delicate (whereas this one must be very precise);
- the presence of fines which makes their handling difficult;
- their instability during storage.
Various solutions have been proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated with the use of intense sweeteners in the food industry. The works recent have been mostly directed on faspartame which is an intense sweetener which is widely used.
EP-A-0102032 published March 7, 1984 describes a liquid sweetener product comprising aspartame and an aqueous dispersing agent comprising X

l3 ~ Or157 preferably a sugar. Such a liquid product is neither easy to store nor easy to dose precisely.
EP-A-0106910 published May 2, 1984 describes a solid sweetener in the form of molded products, for example in the form of cubes, containing a dipeptide-sweetener, aspartame being preferred, and at least one excipient which may be sucrose. The amount of sweetener based dipeptide is 0.3 to 3 (1% by weight relative to the excipient. However, when the excipient consists mainly of sucrose, the amount dipeptide-based intense sweetener should be 2.0 - 10% by weight per relation to the excipic; nt; in case the proportion of excipient is more low, the solubility and wettability of the dipeptide sweetener are not than poorly arr ~ improved. In addition, the product obtained is then too fine and its handling therefore becomes very difficult (page 3, line 21 to page 4, line 1 and page 5, line 19 to page 6, line 9). In other words, in the case of a composition containing a dipeptide-based sweetener, for example faspartame, and sucrose, the amount of aspartame should not exceed 9% by weight of the total composition. In addition, the product of fEP-A-0106910 cat in a molded form, for example in cubes, which prevents from incorporating as is homogeneously in the products food such as ice cream, yogurts or products under powder form.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sweetening product having a sweetening power far superior to that of sucrose and which can be incorporated precisely and uniformly into various food products, whether these products are liquid, semi-liquid, in the form of paste or powder.
Another object of; the invention is to provide such a product which is stable at storage and easy handling.
x ~ 340 '~~~
It is also an object of the invention to provide such a product having a satisfactory solubility and wettability.
An object of the invention is also to provide a sweetening product to sucrose base is an intense sweetener that can contain up to 50 by weight of sweetener. ~ t intense.
An object of the invention is further to provide a sweetening product to based on sucrose and intense sweetener which may include several intense sweeteners ..
Other objects and a.vantage ~ s of the invention will appear on reading the description below aF ~ rès.
The present invention fulfills the above objects and provides a product granular sweetener comprising sucrose and at least one sweetener intense characterized in that it contains from 50 to 9g% by weight of sucrose and 1 to. 50% of at least one intense sweetener, in that its bulk density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g / cm3, preferably between 0.45 and 0.55 ~; / cm3, and in that the average grain diameter is between 150 and 500 µm, preferably about 200 µm.
For reasons of simp: Lification of terminology, the expression "intense sweetener" should be understood in this description as well as in the claims as being able to define one or more intense sweeteners.
The present invention also provides several methods of preparation of this new sweetener product.
The first according to the invention ~ n comprises the following stages a) preparation of sucrose particles of average diameter included between 150 and 500 µm including the steps of al) granulation of sucrose in the wet phase in a continuous granulation in which is fed, at its part superior, the crystallized sucrose having an average diameter between 80 and 100 μm and water is added, substantially at the level of the feeding of said sucrose crystallized, with 1 "hot air being blown upward in said granulator;

~ .340 ~ 5 ~
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulator, particles sucrose formed in step a1);
a3) sieving of ~~ s particles from particles a2) so as to obtain from: ~ sucrose particles having an average diameter between 150 and 500 µm;
b) mixing the sucrose particles from step a3) with the intense sweetener forms us into a powder, under conditions moderate for sufficient time to obtain the product wish.
The second method according to the invention comprises the following steps a1) wet granulation in a granulating apparatus in continuous in which we feed sucrose at the top crystallized having an average diameter between 80 and 100 µm with the intense crystallized sweetener having a smaller average diameter at approximately 500 μm, possibly premixed with said sucrose crystallized, and an addition of water is carried out substantially at level of feeding of the crystallized starting products, the hot air being blown upwardly into said apparatus granulation;
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the part bottom of said granulator, particles granular sweetener formed in step a1);
a3) sieving of particles :; from step a2) so as to obtain particles of the desired granular educt having a diameter medium between 150 'and 500 µm.
According to a variant of the first method above, constituting the third method according to in ~~ ention, part of the intense sweetener ï34D7 ~~
is added at the granulation stage a1), the complement being added at step b).
The addition of water mentioned; in step a1) of the methods of the invention may consist of steam injection or spraying ., water or granulation solution.
As an intense sweetener which can be used in the present invention, it is possible to cite, by way of example: ple, saccharin, saccharinates, acesulfame, and dipeptide-type sweeteners, i.e.
esters of aspartylphenylalanine the most used of which is a-L-aspartyl-L-phe ~ nylalar ~ ine methyl ester known as as-partame (AP). This list is not exhaustive.
The new food product of the present invention based on sucrose and edu = Lcorant intense may further include a support complementary composed of one or more constituents such as gelling agents, teaturant; s, stabilizers, examples of such constituents are; pectins, animal and vegetable proteins, in especially dairy proteins, fiber, carboxymethyl cellulose, cyclodextrin legs, etc.
The sweetening product of the present invention containing a carrier can be prepared in various ways. Said support additional can be added during step b) of mixing in moderate conditions, either with all of the intense sweetener, in the case of the prE ~ mier process above, either with part of the intense sweetener, in the case of the third process above, either only in the case of the second method above (in the latter case, step b) is added to the process).
According to a variant of the methods for preparing the sweetening product of the present invention containing a complementary support, part of the latter can be added at step a1), the rest being added at step b).
As indicated above, 7_'addition of water mentioned in step a1) methods of the invention may consist of steam injection water or as a spray: water ion or granulation solution.
Said granulation solution can for example be a syrup of sucrose or an aqueous solution of a complementary support, for example a gelling solution of pectin.
Thus, it is possible in certain cases to introduce all or part of possible additional support via spraying in the granulation a1) of the method of a solution of said complementary support.
To better illustrate the present invention, a method of obtaining a sweetener; granular food according to the invention is described in more detail below, as an example.
Icing sugar, ie: ~ t to say, crystallized sucrose having a diameter tre average between 80 and 100 µm, is supplied by means of a dispo-volumetric or gravimetric dosing device, for example a screw, at the top 'of a granulation chamber. The part of this granulation chamber communicates with a fluidized bed in which one suffers: Ple of air whose temperature decreases from upstream downstream, from a temperature> 100 ° C (hot air) to a temperature from 15 - 20 ~ C; ( cold air ) . In j ect in the room granulation, substantially at the level of the incorporation of icing sugar, water vapor ~ xui creates, together with the hot air blown in upstream of the fluidized bed, a turbulence which causes the agglomeration of icing sugar particles together and their subsequent granulation.
Agglomerated and granulated particles fall by gravity to the part bottom of the granulation chamber and are taken up by the current fluidized bed air:>é; they advance on the fluidized bed and are re-cooled by the cold air flow at 15 - 20 ~ C before being evacuated of the fluidized bed to be sent to sieving, to provide sucrose cules with an appropriate granulation (average diameter between 150 and 500 µm). These sucrose particles are then mixed with the intense sweetener in powder form in a "soft" mixer, for example a ribbon or coulter mixer, having a low rotation speed. We can incorporate the required quantity intense sweetener once or several times.
For example, to manufacture 50 kg of product according to the invention containing 30 kg of sucrose and 20 kg of intense sweetener, use a 200-liter ribbon mixer with a rotational speed is 30 - 40 turns; min. Can be incorporated into 30 kg of particles sifted sucrose, the 20 kg of intense sweetener in one go, 134a '~~~
by making the mé: Lange for 15 to 20 minutes, or mix 3 times 6, '7 kg of sweetener: intense, the mixing time between each addition being 5 min and the final mixture being set at 10 min. In a way general, the mixing time of sieved sucrose particles after they exit the fluidized bed with the intense sweetener will determined to be sufficient for incorporation full of the intense sweetener in the sucrose particles and total homogeneity of the product.
The product of the invention, obtained for example according to a process such as described above, is not a simple mixture of sucrose and edul-intense corant. In this regard, sedimentation tests have been carried out.
by ultrasound on a product according to the invention containing 40% by weight of AP and 60% by weight of sucrose. Dosages at different heights did not reveal any significant deviation from the components.
The new product edulcor2 ~ nt of the invention does not include fines and is therefore easy to handle. I1 is stable in storage, and does not does not form agglomerates.
It is easy to dose precisely because of its shape granular and its low apparent density.
It dissolves very well in water and its wettability is excellent.
For example, 2.5 g of product according to the invention containing 1.5 g of sucrose and 1 g of AP dissolve in a liter of water at 20 ~ C 4 times faster than 1 g of AP alone.
In addition, with a sweetening power equal to that of sucrose, the product according to the invention provides: e only a reduced number of calories, even neglected-corn. For example, a product according to the invention containing 60% in weight of sucrose and 40% by weight of AP will have a sweetening power equal to about 80 times that of sucrose; in other words, to be able to crant equal to that of sucrose, this product will only provide a number of calories corresponding to less than 1% of that which would have been provided by sucrose, which is negligible.
The new edulco ~ ° ant product of the invention can be added to of various food products, such as drinks, ice cream, dairy products such as yogurts and cottage cheese, confectionery, as well as food products in powder form, etc ...

i3 ~ a ~~~
The present invention makes it possible to produce a formulation suitable for each as specific specific eventual event, by choosing in particular the (s) sweeteners) intens ~ e (s) present) and adjusting their dosage.

Claims (17)

1. Granular food sweetener comprising sucrose and at least one sweetener intense, characterized in that it contains from 50 to 60% by weight of sucrose and 40 to 50% by weight at least one intense sweetener, in that its bulk density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g / cm3 and in that the average grain diameter is between 150 and 500 µm and in that it is homogeneous. 2. Sweetening product according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that its apparent density is between 0.45 and 0.55 g / cm3. 3. Sweetening product according to claim 1, pan characterized by the fact that the mean diameter of grains is approximately 200 µm. 4. Sweetening product according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a additional support. 5. Sweetening product according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that said support complementary is composed of one or more constituents chosen from gelling agents, texturizers and stabilizers, proteins animal and vegetable fibers, carboxymethyl cellulose and cyclodextrins. 6. Sweetening product according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that said support complementary is composed of pectins. 7. Sweetening product according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that said support complementary is composed of milk proteins. 8. Process for preparing a product sweetener according to any of the claims 1 to 7, comprising the following stages:
a) preparation of sucrose particles of average diameter between 150 and 500 µm including the steps of a1) granulation of sucrose in phase wet in a continuous granulator in which is fed, at its upper part, the crystallized sucrose with an average diameter between 80 and 100 µm and we proceed to a addition of water, substantially at the level of feeding said crystallized sucrose, hot air being blown upward into said granulating apparatus;
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulator, particles of sucrose formed in step a1);
a3) screening of particles from from step a2) so as to obtain particles of sucrose with an average diameter between 150 and 500 µm;

b) mixing the sucrose particles from step a3) with the intense sweetener in powder form and any support complementary, in moderate conditions during sufficient time to obtain the desired product. 9. Process for preparing a product sweetener according to any of the claims 1 to 7, including the steps of:
a1) wet granulation in a continuous granulation apparatus in which feeds sucrose at the top crystallized having an average diameter between 80 and 100 µm with intense crystallized sweetener having an average diameter less than about 500 µm and if necessary the additional support, possibly premixed with said sucrose crystallized, and we add water appreciably in terms of feeding crystallized starting materials, hot air being blown upward into said granulating apparatus;
a2) drying and cooling, on a bed fluidized connected to the lower part of said granulator, sweetener particles granular formed in step a1);
a3) screening of particles from step a2) so as to obtain particles of the desired granular sweetener having a diameter medium between 150 and 500 µm. 10. Process for preparing a product sweetener according to claim 1 comprising stages of:
a) preparation of sweetener particles average diameter between 150 and 500 µm including the steps of:
a1) wet granulation in a continuous granulation apparatus in which feeds sucrose at the top crystallized having an average diameter between 80 and 100 µm with all or part of the sweetener intense with an average diameter less than about 500 µm and, if applicable, all or part of the support complementary, possibly premixed audit crystallized sucrose, and we add of water appreciably in the supply of crystallized starting materials, hot air being blown upward into said granulating apparatus;
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulator, sweetener particles granular formed in step a1);
a3) screening of particles from step a2) so as to obtain particles granular sweetener with medium diameter between 150 and 500 µm;
b) mixing of the sweetener particles granular from step a3) with the rest intense sweetener in powder form and rest of any additional support, in moderate conditions for sufficient time to get the desired product. 11. The method of claim 10, in which all of the intense sweetener is added in step b). 12. The method of claim 10, in which all of the possible support additional is added during step b). 13. Method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein said addition of water from step a1) consists of an injection of water vapour. 14. The method of claim 10, in which said addition of water from step a1) consists as a spray of water or a solution of granulation. 15. The method of claim 14, in which said granulation solution is a syrup sucrose. 16. The method of claim 14, in which said granulation solution is a complementary support solution. 17. The method of claim 16, in which the granulation solution is a solution gelling agent.