Effect of physicochemical properties of maltitol on color characteristics of sugar free sponge cakes

Maltitol (E 956) is a disaccharide sugar alcohol belonging to the group of sweeteners, food additives that are used in food formulations to obtain reduced calorie and weight control products. Its low energy value (2.4 kcal/g), low glycemic index (35 – for powdered maltitol) and 0.9 sweetness intensity make maltitol an appropriate sugar alternative for production of soft drinks, desserts, sweets and dairy products. Physicochemical characteristics of maltitol have important impact on overall quality of produced product – its taste, structure and color properties. Under conditions of acid and enzyme hydrolysis with invertase maltitol is practically not hydrolyzed unlike sucrose which reached degrees of hydrolysis 100% (acid hydrolysis) and 35 % (invertase hydrolysis). Maltitol and sucrose didn’t participate in reactions of alkaline degradation and nonenzymatic browning at pH 9, pH 10 and in temperature of 80 oC. The replacement of sucrose with maltitol in sponge cake affects its color characteristics. It was measured that surface and inner layers of products with maltitol were with lower brightness then those with sucrose.