The size of the global gummy market, which was estimated at USD 16.28 billion in 2020, is widely reported as being anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 12.6% from 2020 to 2028, due to the growing number of health-conscious consumers who desire convenient dosage forms of supplements.
Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are prebiotics made up of plant sugars which are increasingly being utilised as a sugar replacement across a variety of food, drink, and gummy formats.
The current study was carried out to confirm whether this replacement has an impact on the sensory aspects or the shelf-life of a gummy product. The objective was to create healthy vegan gummies with prebiotic properties using Galactooligosaccharide (GOS).
The report concludes this is an effective functional replacement for sugar in this format, specifying the precise quantities that are most widely accepted.
The report states: "The extensively performed sensory analysis of various compositions of gummies suggests that nutraceuticals like GOS can be incorporated in confectioneries making it easier to consume the vegetarian sugar free gummies. The GOS gummies were accepted by the trained panel even after 180 days of storage, which suggests that the gummies are exhibiting better shelf-life and keeping quality and can be of commercial interest.
"Hence, we conclude that the gummies supplemented with GOS can meet the increasing demand of consumers for healthy confectioneries without any change in organoleptic qualities and with an increased shelf life of 6 months at accelerated temperature."
The study
The standard gummies were made using agar, sugar, citric acid, water, and FSSAI (Food Safety Standards Authority of India) certified natural colours and flavours, while GOS supplemented gummies were made by replacing sugar in varied amounts, up to 100%.
A trained panel (n = 8) evaluated the gummies using a composite score card in triplicates for a variety of sensory attributes. GOS recovery analysis, physicochemical variables such as colour, moisture, pH, and texture were assessed. Shelf life Studies of 100 percent GOS supplemented gummies were carried out at accelerated temperatures (37 °C) over a period of 6 months.
Sugar content in the standardised gummies was substituted with varying levels of galactooligosaccharide (60%, 80%, and 100%) and subjected to organoleptic testing (colour, moisture, PH, and texture).
Results revealed a statistically significant reduction in mouthfeel, texture, overall acceptability, and total score when the GOS concentration exceeded 60%. In an attempt to make the 100% substituted GOS gummies more acceptable, they were prepared with varying levels of sucralose (5 g, 5.5 g, 6 g) and subjected to organoleptic testing by the panel.
The gummies formulation with the best evaluated parameters was prepared with 75 ml water, 60 g sugar, 2 g agar and 1.9 g citric acid with the help of the process.
Difference Test was performed to determine the superiority, inferiority, or similarity obtained with varying levels of sucralose added to the 100 percent GOS gummies as compared to the standard sugar gummies in terms of overall acceptability. The GOS gummy with 5.5 g sucralose was found to be superior as compared to the other variations of sucralose
The results revealed that gummies with varying levels of GOS were acceptable to the panellists. Shelf-life tests revealed a significant improvement (p < 0.05) in the texture of the gummies with a slight reduction in colour and flavour at the end of six months.
The researchers conclude that sugar can be substituted with 100% GOS to fulfil the increasing demand for healthy confectioneries without any change in organoleptic qualities and a shelf life of 6 months.
Source: BMC Food Production, Processing and Nutrition
https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-022-00117-w
"Development of Galactooligosaccharide (GOS) added gummies: sensory, characterization and shelf quality"
Dey. K., and Sheth. M