The effect of spray drying on sucrose-glycine caramel powder preparation

Caramel is used as food colorant in many parts of the world. However, there have been no studies investigating the effects of spray drying on sucrose and glycine solutions. In this study, model sucrose and glycine solutions at different pH levels (pH 4, 3, 2 and 1) were treated with different inlet air temperatures (160, 180, 200, 220 and 240 °C) for durations of 50 s in the spray drying process.

With increasing inlet temperatures and decreasing pH, the morphology of the caramel agglomerates tended to be more scattered; however, the solubility of the caramel decreased. With increasing inlet temperature, the glycine and sucrose contents decreased but the fructose and glucose contents increased.

The content of the intermediate products, browning intensity and amount of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) increased with increasing inlet temperature and decreasing pH. Therefore, the amount of sucrose degradation and the change in pH can be used to evaluate caramel properties in the spray drying process. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.