EP0352393A1 - Food-sweetening compound based on sucrose and a strong sweetener, and process to prepare it - Google Patents

Abstract

New granular sweetening food product comprising saccharose and at least one intense sweetener, characterized in that it contains from 50 to 99 % by weight of saccharose and from 1 to 50 % of at least one intense or strong sweetener, in that its apparent density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g/cm<3>, preferably between 0.45 and 0.55 g/cm<3>, and in that the mean diameter of the grains is between 150 and 500 mu m, preferably equal to about 200 mu m. The new product of the invention is stable in storage conditions. It is easy to handle. It is also easy to dose accurately and has a sweetening power equal to that of saccharose and brings in a reduced, practically negligible number of calories. The sweetening product may be added to various food products such as beverages, ice creams, dairy products such as yaourts and white cheese, confectionery, as well as food products in the form of powders.

Description

The present invention relates to a novel food sweetener based on sucrose and an intense sweetener as well as methods for preparing it. More specifically, the present invention relates to a new granular sweetener product containing sucrose and at least one intense sweetener, the amount of which can reach 50% by weight of said sweetener product.

Intense sweeteners, such as saccharin, saccharinates, acesulfame, and especially sweeteners of the dipeptide type, i.e. esters of aspartyl-phenylalanine, the most used of which is methyl ester, α -L-aspartyl-L- phenylalanine methyl ester, known as aspartame (AP), are widely used in the food industry due to their high sweetening power - at least about 150 times that of sucrose.
Certain properties of intense sweeteners can however make their use difficult and in particular cause problems during their incorporation in food products. Among these, we can cite:
- their poor solubility and low wettability;
- the fact that they become sticky to humidity and tend to form agglomerates;
- their extremely high sweetening power which makes their dosage delicate (although this must be very precise);
- the presence of fines which makes their handling difficult;
- their instability during storage.

Various solutions have been proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated with the use of intense sweeteners in the food industry. Recent work has been mainly directed to aspartame which is an intense sweetener whose use is very widespread.

• a) préparation de particules de saccharose de diamètre moyen compris entre 150 et 500 µm comprenant les étapes de
  • a1) granulation du saccharose en phase humide dans un appareil de granulation en continu dans lequel est alimenté, à sa partie supérieure, le saccharose cristallisé ayant un diamètre moyen compris entre 80 et 100 µm et on procède à une addition d'eau, sensiblement au niveau de l'alimentation dudit saccharose cristallisé, de l'air chaud étant soufflé de façon ascendante dans ledit appareil de granulation ;
  • a2) séchage et refroidissement, sur un lit fluidisé relié à la partie inférieure dudit appareil de granulation, des particules de saccharose formées dans l'étape a1) ;
  • a3) tamisage des particules provenant de l'étape a2) de façon à obtenir des particules de saccharose ayant un diamètre moyen compris entre 150 et 500 µm ;
• b) mélange des particules de saccharose provenant de l'étape a3) avec l'édulcorant intense sous forme de poudre, dans des conditions modérées pendant un temps suffisant pour obtenir le produit souhaité.

EP-A-0102032 describes a liquid sweetening product comprising aspartame and an aqueous dispersing agent, preferably comprising a sugar. Such a liquid product is neither easy to store nor easy to dose precisely.
EP-A-0106910 describes a solid sweetener in the form of molded products, for example in the form of cubes, containing a dipeptide-based sweetener, aspartame being preferred, and at least one excipient which may be sucrose. The amount of dipeptide-based sweetener is 0.3 to 30% by weight relative to the excipient. However, when the excipient mainly comprises sucrose, the amount of intense dipeptide-based sweetener should be 2.0 - 10% by weight relative to the excipient; in the case where the proportion of excipient is lower, the solubility and wettability of the dipeptide sweetener are only poorly improved. In addition, the product obtained is then too thin and its handling therefore becomes very difficult (page 3, l. 21 to page 4, l. 1 and page 5, l. 19 to page 6, l. 9). In other words, in the case of a composition containing a dipeptide-based sweetener, for example aspartame, and sucrose, the amount of aspartame should not exceed 9% by weight of the total composition. In addition, the product of EP-A-0106910 is in a molded form, for example in cubes, which prevents it from being incorporated homogeneously as it is into food products such as ice creams, yogurts or products in powder form.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sweetening product having a sweetening power far superior to that of Saccharoise and which can be incorporated in a precise and homogeneous manner into various food products, whether these products are liquid, semi-liquid, in the form of a paste. or powder.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a product which is stable in storage and which is easy to handle.
It is also an object of the invention to provide such a product having satisfactory solubility and wettability.
An object of the invention is also to provide a sweetener product based on sucrose and an intense sweetener which may contain up to 50% by weight of intense sweetener.
It is further an object of the invention to provide a sweetener based on sucrose and an intense sweetener which may include several intense sweeteners.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description below.
The present invention meets the above objects and provides a granular sweetener product comprising sucrose and at least one intense sweetener characterized in that it contains from 50 to 99% by weight of sucrose and from 1 to 50% at least. an intense sweetener, in that its apparent density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g / cm³, preferably between 0.45 and 0.55 g / cm³, and in that the average grain diameter is between 150 and 500 µm, preferably about 200 µm.
For reasons of simplification of the terminology, the expression "intense sweetener" should be understood in the present description as in the claims as being able to define one or more intense sweeteners.
The present invention also provides several methods of preparing this new sweetener.
The first according to the invention comprises the following steps:

• a) preparation of sucrose particles with an average diameter of between 150 and 500 μm comprising the steps of
  • a1) granulation of the sucrose in the wet phase in a continuous granulation apparatus into which is fed, at its upper part, the crystallized sucrose having an average diameter of between 80 and 100 μm and an addition of water is carried out, substantially at feeding level of said crystallized sucrose, hot air being blown upwardly into said granulator;
  • a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulation apparatus, of the sucrose particles formed in step a1);
  • a3) sieving the particles from step a2) so as to obtain sucrose particles having an average diameter between 150 and 500 μm;
• b) mixing the sucrose particles from step a3) with the intense sweetener in powder form, under moderate conditions for a time sufficient to obtain the desired product.

• a1) granulation en phase humide dans un appareil de granulation en continu dans lequel on alimente à sa partie supérieure le saccharose cristallisé ayant un diamètre moyen compris entre 80 et 100 µm avec l'édulcorant intense cristallisé ayant un diamètre moyen inférieur à environ 500 µm, éventuellement prémélangé audit saccharose cristallisé, et on procède à une addition d'eau sensiblement au niveau de l'alimentation des produits de départ cristallisés, de l'air chaud étant soufflé de façon ascendante dans ledit appareil de granulation ;
• a2) séchage et refroidissement, sur un lit fluidisé relié à la partie inférieure dudit appareil de granulation, des particules d'édulcorant granulaire formées dans l'étape a1) ;
• a3) tamisage des particules provenant de l'étape a2) de façon à obtenir des particules de l'édulcorant granulaire souhaité ayant un diamètre moyen compris entre 150 et 500 µm.

The second method according to the invention comprises the following steps:

• a1) wet granulation in a continuous granulation apparatus in which the crystalline sucrose having an average diameter of between 80 and 100 μm is fed at its upper part with the intense crystallized sweetener having an average diameter of less than approximately 500 μm, optionally premixed with said crystallized sucrose, and a water addition is carried out substantially at the level of the supply of the crystallized starting products, hot air being blown upwardly into said granulation apparatus;
• a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulation apparatus, of the granular sweetener particles formed in step a1);
• a3) sieving the particles from step a2) so as to obtain particles of the desired granular sweetener having an average diameter between 150 and 500 μm.

According to a variant of the first method above, constituting the third method according to the invention, part of the intense sweetener is added at the granulation step a1), the complement being added at the step b).
The addition of water mentioned in step a1) of the methods of the invention may consist of an injection of water vapor or a spraying of water or a granulation solution.
As an intense sweetener which can be used in the present invention, there may be mentioned, by way of example, saccharin, saccharinates, acesulfame, and sweeteners of the dipeptide type, that is to say the esters of aspartylphenylalanine the most used of which is α-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester known as aspartame (AP). This list is not exhaustive.
The new food product of the present invention based on sucrose and intense sweetener may also comprise a complementary support composed of one or more constituents such as gelling agents, texturizers, stabilizers, examples of such constituents are pectins, animal and vegetable proteins, in particular dairy proteins, fibers, carboxymethyl cellulose, cyclodextrins, etc.
The sweetening product of the present invention containing a complementary support can be prepared in various ways. Said additional support can be added during step b) of mixing under moderate conditions, either with all of the intense sweetener, in the case of the first process above, or with part of the intense sweetener , in the case of the third method above, either alone in the case of the second method above (in the latter case, step b) is added to the method).
According to a variant of the methods for preparing the sweetening product of the present invention containing a complementary support, part of the latter can be added at step a1), the rest being added at step b).
As indicated above, the addition of water mentioned in step a1) of the methods of the invention can consist of an injection of water vapor or a spraying of water or of a granulation solution. Said granulation solution can for example be a sucrose syrup or an aqueous solution of a complementary support, for example example a gelling solution of pectin.
Thus, it is possible in certain cases to introduce all or part of the possible additional support via spraying in the granulation step a1) of the method of a solution of said additional support. To better illustrate the present invention, a method of obtaining a granular food sweetening product according to the invention is described in more detail below, by way of example.
Icing sugar, that is to say, crystallized sucrose having an average diameter between 80 and 100 μm, is fed by means of a volumetric or gravimetric dosing device, for example a screw doser, at the top of the 'a granulation chamber. The lower part of this granulation chamber communicates with a fluidized bed in which air is blown, the temperature of which decreases from upstream to downstream, from a temperature> 100 ° C (hot air) to a temperature from 15 - 20 ° C (cold air). Water vapor is injected into the granulation chamber, substantially at the level of the incorporation of icing sugar, which creates, together with the hot air blown upstream of the fluidized bed, a turbulence which causes the particles to agglomerate. icing sugar between them and their subsequent granulation. The agglomerated and granulated particles fall by gravity to the lower part of the granulation chamber and are taken up by the air stream from the fluidized bed; they advance on the fluidized bed and are cooled by the cold air stream to 15 - 20 ° C before being evacuated from the fluidized bed to be sent to sieving, to provide sucrose particles having an appropriate granulation (average diameter included between 150 and 500 µm). These sucrose particles are then mixed with the intense sweetener in powder form in a "soft" mixer, for example a ribbon or coulter mixer, having a low speed of rotation. The required amount of intense sweetener can be incorporated one or more times.
By way of example, to make 50 kg of product according to the invention containing 30 kg of sucrose and 20 kg of intense sweetener, a 200-liter ribbon mixer can be used, the rotation speed of which is 30-40 revolutions / min. We can incorporate the 30 kg of saccharose sieved particles, the 20 kg of intense sweetener in one go, by mixing for 15 to 20 minutes, or else incorporate 6.7 kg of intense sweetener 3 times, the mixing time between each addition being 5 minutes and the final mixture being fixed at 10 minutes. Generally, the time for mixing the sieved sucrose particles after leaving the fluidized bed with the intense sweetener will be determined to be sufficient to obtain complete incorporation of the intense sweetener into the sucrose particles and a total homogeneity of the product.
The product of the invention, obtained for example according to a process as described above, is not a simple mixture of sucrose and intense sweetener. In this regard, ultrasound sedimentation tests were carried out on a product according to the invention containing 40% by weight of AP and 60% by weight of sucrose. Dosages at different heights did not reveal any significant deviation of the components.
The new sweetener product of the invention does not contain fines and is therefore easy to handle. It is stable in storage, and does not form agglomerates.
It is easy to dose precisely because of both its granular shape and its low apparent density.
It dissolves very well in water and its wettability is excellent. For example, 2.5 g of product according to the invention containing 1.5 g of sucrose and 1 g of AP dissolve in a liter of water at 20 ° C 4 times faster than 1 g of 'AP alone.
In addition, with a sweetening power equal to that of sucrose, the product according to the invention provides only a reduced number of calories, even negligible. Thus, for example, a product according to the invention containing 60% by weight of sucrose and 40% by weight of AP will have a sweetening power equal to approximately 80 times that of sucrose; in other words, with a sweetening power equal to that of sucrose, this product will only provide a number of calories corresponding to less than 1% of that which would have been provided by sucrose, which is negligible.
The new sweetener product of the invention can be added to various food products, such as for example drinks, ice creams, dairy products such as yogurts and fromage blanc, confectionery, as well as to food products in the form of powder, etc ...
The present invention makes it possible to produce a formulation adapted to each specific specific case, by choosing in particular the intense sweetener (s) present (s) and by adjusting their dosage.

Claims (14)

1. Granular food sweetener product comprising sucrose and at least one intense sweetener characterized in that it contains from 50 to 99% by weight of sucrose and from 1 to 50% by weight of at least one intense sweetener, in that its apparent density is between 0.4 and 0.7 g / cm³ and in that the average grain diameter is between 150 and 500 µm. 2. Sweetening product according to claim 1 characterized in that its apparent density is between 0.45 and 0.55 g / cm². 3. Sweetening product according to one of claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the average grain diameter is approximately 200 µm. 4. Sweetening product according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that it further comprises an additional support. 5. Sweetening product according to claim 4, characterized in that the said additional support is composed of one or more constituents chosen from gelling agents, texturizers and let stabilizers such as pectins, animal and vegetable proteins, in particular dairy proteins, fibers, carboxymethyl cellulose and cyclodextrins. 6. Method for preparing a sweetening product according to one of claims 1 to 5 comprising the following steps: a) preparation of sucrose particles with an average diameter of between 150 and 500 μm comprising the steps of
a1) granulation of sucrose in the wet phase in a continuous granulation apparatus into which is fed, at its upper part, the crystallized sucrose having an average diameter of between 80 and 100 μm and an addition of water is carried out, substantially at the level of the supply of said crystallized sucrose, hot air being blown upwardly into said apparatus granulation:
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulation apparatus, of the sucrose particles formed in step a1)
a3) sieving the particles from step a2) so as to obtain sucrose particles having an average diameter between 150 and 500 μm; b) mixing the sucrose particles from step a3) with the intense sweetener in powder form and the optional additional support, under moderate conditions for a time sufficient to obtain the desired product. 7. Method for preparing a sweetening product according to one of claims 1 to 5 comprising the steps of: a1) wet granulation in a continuous granulation apparatus in which the crystalline sucrose having an average diameter of between 80 and 100 μm is fed at its upper part with the intense crystallized sweetener having an average diameter of less than approximately 500 μm and if necessary, the additional support, possibly premixed with said crystallized sucrose, and a water addition is carried out substantially at the level of the supply of the crystallized starting products, hot air being blown upwardly into said granulation apparatus ; a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulation apparatus, of the granular sweetener particles formed in step a1); a3) sieving the particles from step a2) so as to obtain particles of the desired granular sweetener having an average diameter between 150 and 500 μm. 8. Method for preparing a sweetening product according to one of claims 1 to 5 comprising the steps of: a) Preparation of sweetener particles with an average diameter of between 150 and 500 μm comprising the steps of:
a1) wet phase granulation in a continuous granulation apparatus in which the crystalline sucrose having an average diameter between 80 and 100 μm is fed at its upper part with all or part of the intense sweetener having an average diameter less than approximately 500 μm and, if appropriate, all or part of the additional support, possibly premixed with said crystallized sucrose, and a water addition is carried out substantially at the level of the supply of the crystallized starting products, hot air being blown so ascending in said granulator;
a2) drying and cooling, on a fluidized bed connected to the lower part of said granulation apparatus, of the granular sweetener particles formed in step a1);
a3) sieving the particles from step a2) so as to obtain granular sweetener particles having an average diameter between 150 and 500 μm; b) mixing the particles of granular sweetener from step a3) with the rest of the intense sweetener in powder form and the rest of the optional additional support, under moderate conditions for a time sufficient to obtain the product wish. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein all of the intense sweetener is added in step b). 10. The method of claim 8 wherein all of the possible additional support is added during step b). 11. Method according to any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein said addition of water from step a1) consists of an injection of steam. 12. Method according to any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein said addition of water from step a1) consists of spraying water or a granulation solution. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said granulation solution is a sucrose syrup. 14. The method of claim 12 wherein said granulation solution is a solution of the complementary support, for example a gelling solution.