SUGAR-FREE HARD COATINGS PREPARED FROM LIQUID MALTITOL COMPRISING DP sb 4+ /sb FRACTION

Description of the invention

The present invention relates to sugar-free hard-coated food products, a method of their preparation and the use of maltitol syrup. Said sugar-free hard coating is formed of maltitol liquid in a syrup containing a DP4 + fraction, the dry matter maltitol content being 95 to 97% by weight. The surface of said food products is regular and said hard coating is not sticky.

Conventional panning procedures for hard coatings typically use sucrose, but recent advances in coating have made it possible to use other carbohydrates instead of sucrose. Sucrose appears to be detrimental to dentition by causing tooth decay due to the easy formation of acids. For this reason, coatings are nowadays increasingly made of sugar-free compositions.

Problems with the crystallization process sometimes affect the appearance of the coating. In order to obtain good, hard coatings, regular crystallization must take place during application and drying.

EP 0 201 412 describes a confectionery or pharmaceutical product having a sugar-free hard coating in the form of a hard coating obtained with maltitol syrup with a content of 50 to 70% by weight of dry matter, the above-mentioned coating being essentially crystalline and containing at least 90% by weight. maltitol.

The invention relates to sugar-free, hard-coated food products having a hard coating and an edible chewable and / or pharmaceutical core, the above-mentioned hard coating being obtained using a coating syrup containing at least 95% maltitol on a dry basis, characterized by that

(a) the syrup has a dry matter content of 68 to 72%, a

b) the dry matter of the syrup contains from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction.

Preferably, the maltitol syrup comprises, on a dry basis:

a) from 95 to 97% by weight of maltitol,

b) maximum 1.5% by weight of the DP1 fraction,

c) from 0 to 1.5% by weight of the DP3 fraction,

d) from 0.7 to 1.5 wt.% of the DP4 + fraction.

Preferably, the core is selected from the group consisting of pharmaceutical tablets, chewing gum, confectionery, chocolate and nuts.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the core is in the form of a chewing gum and the hard shell is not sticky and its surface is regular and remains intact during processing.

The invention also relates to a process for the production of sugar-free hard coated food products, comprising the following steps:

a) applying a coating syrup containing maltitol syrup to the cores of food products located on the movable table of the coating apparatus,

b) application of maltitol in the form of a powder to obtain coated cores,

c) drying the coated cores using drying air at a temperature ranging from 15 to 45 ° C and a moisture content not exceeding 50% relative humidity, characterized in that the dry matter content in the maltitol syrup used in step a) is from 68 to 72% by weight, and the maltitol syrup contains from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction.

Preferably, the dry matter of the maltitol syrup used in step a) comprises

a) from 95 to 97% by weight of maltitol,

b) maximum 1.5% by weight of the DP1 fraction,

c) from 0 to 1.5% by weight of the DP3 fraction,

d) from 0.7 to 1.5 wt.% of the DP4 + fraction.

The invention also relates to the use of maltitol syrup, the weight content of which is from 68 to 72% by weight, with a dry weight content of from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction for improving a hard coating on hard coated food products.

PL 205 123 B1

Figure 1 is a photograph in which the image is magnified 6x10 times. It can be seen that a hard coating prepared with a maltitol syrup containing 96% maltitol and 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction on a dry basis has a smooth, regular surface.

The present invention relates to sugar-free, hard-coated food products having a hard coating and an edible chewable and / or pharmaceutical core, the above-mentioned coating being obtained with a coating syrup containing at least 95% maltitol and characterized in that the syrup has a dry weight content of 68 to 72% and the dry weight content of the syrup is 0.7 to 1.5% by weight in the form of the DP4 + fraction.

The present invention relates to sugar-free hard coated food products, the hard coating being obtained using a maltitol syrup which contains, on a dry basis:

a) from 95 to 97% by weight of maltitol,

b) maximum 1.5% by weight of the DP1 fraction,

c) from 0 to 1.5% by weight of the DP3 fraction,

d) from 0.7 to 1.5 wt.% of the DP4 + fraction.

EP 0 201 412 describes maltitol syrup which contains 97.1% by weight of maltitol, 1.1% by weight of sorbitol and 1.8% by weight of maltotritol. The above-mentioned syrup contains no DP4 + fraction at all and it has been clearly shown that it is not possible to obtain a regular surface by applying maltitol syrup with a dry matter content greater than 65%. When higher dry matter contents are used, crystallization is irregular, resulting in surface defects.

Surprisingly, it has been shown in the present invention that maltitol syrups containing from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction in dry matter and from 95 to 97% of maltitol in the dry matter allow the use of syrups with a dry matter content greater than 65%, i.e. syrups with a dry matter content of 68 to 72%, for the preparation of regular hard coatings (see Fig. 1).

The maltitol syrups preferably have a dry matter content of 70 to 72%, resulting in a hard coating with a uniform surface.

Hard coatings may be obtained using a method which is similar to the method described in WO 91/09989 for a sorbitol coating, said method of producing a hard coating comprising the following steps:

a) applying a coating syrup containing maltitol syrup to the cores of food products located on the movable table of the coating apparatus,

b) application of maltitol in powder form to obtain coated cores,

c) drying the coated cores using drying air at a temperature ranging from 15 to 45 ° C and a moisture content not exceeding 50% of relative humidity, this method being characterized by the dry matter content of the syrup used in step a) maltitol is from 68 to 72% by dry weight, and the maltitol syrup contains from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction.

According to the present invention, the dry substance contained in the maltitol syrup used in step a) comprises, based on the dry weight:

i) from 95 to 97% by weight of maltitol, ii) up to 1.5% by weight of the DP1 fraction, iii) from 0 to 1.5% by weight of the DP3 fraction, iv) from 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction.

A hard coating can be prepared by applying a coating syrup containing, in addition to the maltitol syrup, additives such as viscosity reducing ingredients, binders, dispersants, film formers, colorants and / or flavorings. In fact, any colorants that are approved for use in food products can be used. Moreover, flavoring substances may be used in liquid or solid form, and they may be of both natural origin and synthetic substances.

Hard coatings on hard coated food products have 1 to 100 layers.

PL 205 123 B1

A large number of layers is usually achieved by applying a single coat, drying the layer and then repeating the entire process. Any number of layers may be applied to the core. Coatings consisting of 1 to 100 layers are easy to obtain, preferably the number of layers is in the range 1 to 40. The optimal number of layers depends on the desired application and can be determined experimentally.

According to the invention, the core is selected from the group consisting of pharmaceutical tablets, chewing gum, confectionery products, chocolate and nuts.

In particular, the invention relates to sugar-free, hard-shelled food products where the core is a chewing gum, the hard shell is non-sticky, and the surface is formed on a regular basis and remains intact during processing and subsequent operations (such as packaging). ). A coating syrup prepared on the basis of maltitol syrup containing from 99 to 100% by weight of maltitol leads to a brittle coating which causes it to crack and causes problems during further processing such as packaging, etc.

The effectiveness of the present invention has further been demonstrated by the example of a hard coating on a chewing gum (example 1 - fig. 1). In Fig. 1, the regular surface of the hard coating is visible.

According to the invention, maltitol syrup having a weight content of 68 to 72% and a dry weight of 0.7 to 1.5% by weight of the DP4 + fraction is used in the improvement of a hard coating on hard coated food products.

The use of the above maltitol syrup leads to a regular hard coating surface.

The reason why the above-mentioned syrup is suitable for use in a method of applying hard coatings and obtaining a regular coating surface is, in particular, the content of the DP4 + fraction in the liquid maltitol syrup.

The present invention has the following advantages:

- Liquid maltitol syrup with a high dry matter content may be applied to obtain regular hard coating surfaces,

- In the hard coating process, it is not necessary to evaporate the excess water as it is possible to use a liquid maltitol syrup with a high dry matter content, making the method more economical,

- The coating remains intact during processing and subsequent operations such as packaging, etc.

The present invention is illustrated by the following example.

Example 1

The coating was performed in a 2 kg coating pan.

The cores with a total weight of 1.5 kg were rotated at a speed of 8 revolutions per minute, the weight of each of the uncoated cores was 0.9 g. The cores were sprayed with 5 ml of coating syrup (liquid maltitol syrup containing 96% dry weight). maltitol, 1.4% DP1 fraction, 1.4% DP3 fraction and 0.9% DP4 + fraction with the syrup having a dry matter content of 70.3% (C * Maltidex 163K9). In order to reduce the viscosity and start the crystallization process, maltitol was added in the form of a dry powder. The drying step was performed by blowing air at 24 ° C into the coating vessel. The coating was produced by repeating the above-described process multiple times. The amount of syrup added was increased up to 30 ml / layer.

A coated chewing gum is shown in Figure 1, where it is clearly seen that the hard shell has a regular, homogeneous surface.

The hard shell remains intact during processing and subsequent operations such as packaging.