The sensory and physical properties of Shortbread biscuits cooked using different sucrose granule size fractions

A rich sugar diet has negative health implications so it is necessary to reduce sugar where possible. The objective of this study was to determine if different sugar size fractions could increase the sweetness intensity of Shortbread biscuits and therefore, permit sugar reduction. For this, the unground commercial sugar (Control, 102 to 378 mu m) and two of its sieved separates, (Coarse (C), 228 to 377 mu m and Fine (F), 124 to 179 mu m) were investigated in biscuit formulation with the following content: Control 100% or 50%; (C), 100 or 50% and (F), 100 or 50% or its initial content. Biscuits were tested using sensory (hedonic and intensity), physical (dimensions, fracture properties, color), and compositional analyses. Trends showed that samples containing C-sugar with its 50% content were more preferable than samples containing the Control and F- sugar fractions at the same level without impact upon acceptability of the final product in all three sugar fraction sizes. As sweetness intensity scores correlated directly with flavor liking scores, these findings promote the use of this sugar fraction in the formulation of low-sugar baked biscuits. Sugar particle size manipulation could be used as a viable, cheap, technological approach to reduce sugar in baked goods and therefore promote consumer acceptable and commercially available baked biscuits products. Practical Application In order to reduce sucrose content in products one of the approaches might be via the utilization of small sugar particles which has been shown to increase the intensity of sweetness in chocolate brownies, which has been previously shown by Richardson et al. in 2018. This study investigates the use of a clean label approach in sugar reduction of short bread biscuits. This approach involves decreasing the sugar particles size and demonstrates how reducing the content to half of its initial content formulation will affect the sensory perception and physical properties.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the impact of different sugar size fractions on enhancing sweetness intensity of Shortbread biscuits and reducing sugar content. Results showed that samples containing 50% C-sugar were preferred over Control and F-sugar samples at the same level, without affecting the acceptability of the final product. These findings support the use of sugar particle size manipulation to create low-sugar baked biscuits that are consumer acceptable and commercially available.