Investigation of Sugar Reduction in Biscuits Based on Sensory Analysis

Abstract

Biscuits are the bakery products frequently preferred by consumers of all ages, as they are easily accessible, ready for consumption, and have a wide variety. Sugar has important effects on taste, texture, and structure. It is a key ingredient in biscuit production and directly related to consumer acceptance. The most used sugar in bakery products is sucrose due to its technological properties and economic reasons. On the other hand, with the proof of its negative effects on health and the increase in the trend of healthy living, sugar reduction strategies in biscuits have gained momentum. Sugar reduction is a challenge for baking industry. Sensory analysis performed for sugar reduction purposes requires a lot of effort for the industry. Therefore, a modified Weibull model-based approach is presented here to relate sweetness perception with sugar concentration for the first time. The model was tested by using sweetness perception data obtained from sensory analysis of biscuits (with wholewheat flour, whey or hydrolysed pea protein, different forms of sucrose, ethylvanillin, furaneol, and phenylacetaldehyde) having varying sucrose concentrations (6-39%). Sweetness perception increased with the addition of wholewheat flour, proteins, and aroma compounds. Wholewheat flour and protein addition boosted Maillard reaction products imparting baked/caramel-like flavour notes. No relationship was found between the physical properties of the biscuits and their perceived sweetness. The modified Weibull model was well fitted to the sweetness perception data with a sigmoidal curve. High predicting power for the model was observed for all biscuits. The model parameters allowed to explain how much sugar reduction can be achieved to reach a targeted sweetness perception without performing further sensory analysis.