Molecular Dynamics of Jelly Candies by Means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry

¹H spin-lattice Nuclear Magnetic Resonance relaxation studies have been performed for different kinds of Haribo jelly and Vidal jelly in a very broad frequency range from about 10 kHz to 10 MHz to obtain insight into the dynamic and structural properties of jelly candies on the molecular level. This extensive data set has been thoroughly analyzed revealing three dynamic processes, referred to as slow, intermediate and fast dynamics occurring on the timescale of 10^-6 s, 10^-7 s and 10^-8 s, respectively. The parameters have been compared for different kinds of jelly for the purpose of revealing their characteristic dynamic and structural properties as well as to enquire into how increasing temperature affects these properties. It has been shown that dynamic processes in different kinds of Haribo jelly are similar (this can be treated as a sign of their quality and authenticity) and that the fraction of confined water molecules is reduced with increasing temperature. Two groups of Vidal jelly have been identified. For the first one, the parameters (dipolar relaxation constants and correlation times) match those for Haribo jelly. For the second group including cherry jelly, considerable differences in the parameters characterizing their dynamic properties have been revealed.