Company insight
Functional gummies: The new trend in ingredients
The rapidly expanding market for gummies, a popular format for health-conscious consumers, presents an opportunity for innovation in functional foods. Zukán outlines how by incorporating fructo-oligosaccharides – a type of soluble and prebiotic fibres – into gummy formulations, it’s possible to enhance both the nutritional and technological aspects of these products, offering a path to improved health and extended shelf life.
R
esearch and innovation in the field of functional foods is currently an essential
cornerstone for the agrifood industry. The basic principle is that foods are not only meant to satisfy hunger and provide the necessary nutrients, but also prevent nutrition-related diseases and improve people’s physical and mental health.
The world market for gummies is expanding at dizzying speed. Gummies are a practical and fun format that continues to attract new consumers wanting to look after their health in an easy way. Gummies are promising vehicles for various nutrients because they’re easy to eat and can be formulated with a wide range of active ingredients that can contribute to immunological health (vitamins and minerals), heart health (omega-3) and intestinal health (probiotics and prebiotics).
Adding dietary fibres is a widely used strategy in the formulation of many foods as it not only enriches them with fibre, but also provides other interesting technological properties. Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) are types of fibre that are soluble and are prebiotic. FOS are increasingly being included in a number of food products due to the positive prebiotic effect of stimulating the health-benefitting growth of non-pathogenic intestinal flora.
Scientifically backed
From a technological standpoint, the goal of using fibres has been to improve the consistency and texture of the formulations developed. FOS have technological properties that are comparable to those in sugar and glucose syrup, making them useful as complete or partial sugar substitutes
“FOS are much more soluble and sweeter than native inulin, have fewer calories (1–2 Kcal/g) than sucrose as well as a lower sweetening power (30–35%).”
The sweets and gummies industry has traditionally used high concentrations of sugar (essentially sucrose and glucose syrups) combined with gelling agents, acids, aromas and colouring, to manufacture their products. The nutritional value of these formulations is low, and the polyols often used as habitual substitutes typically do not enhance the nutritional value of these soft sweets.
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in any formulation as an adequate bulking agent when producing gummies. Additionally, they’re much more soluble and sweeter than native inulin, have less calories (1–2 Kcal/g) than sucrose as well as a lower artificial sweetening power (30–35%). Moreover, FOS provide a sweet flavour without any residual effect and enhance fruity flavours. Used in combination with intensive sweeteners and/or
aromas, they offer interesting blends for a more complete sensation in the mouth and better flavour with very little aftertaste in addition to enhanced stability.
The fact that gummies easily dry up is likely the factor that most limits the useful life of this type of product, since any variations in ambient temperature or moisture can significantly affecting the texture. To this end, studies conducted by Delgado in 2019 looked at gummies that were manufactured with FOS compared with other models made with other types of fibres and polyols. They were all stored at 25°C and at 40% relative humidity for 42 days. The sweets with FOS had a softer texture and lower hardening speed that barely affected the product elasticity. Because of the humectant property of the FOS, the texture was more stable against drying in comparison to the conventional product made with sugar and starch. The work concluded that FOS can therefore help retain more water than in sugary products, which minimises their hardening and extends their useful life. These studies concluded that the inclusion of FOS in gummy sweets would offer nutritional and technological advantages. In short, gummies formulated with fibres – in this case with FOS – stand out due to the possibilities for innovation with these kinds of products, including functional ingredients that would thus foster better health. ●
www.zukan.es/en/ Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
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