Elaboração e caracterização físico-química de doce de leite elaborado com polióis

Abstract

Milk is one of the most nutritious foods in the world. Several derivatives can be generated through it, such as dulce de leche, a characteristic product in southern Latin America. Typically, sugar is added in its manufacture, mainly sucrose, which gives flavor, consistency, and other characteristics to the product. However, excessive sugar consumption promotes several health problems, and due to this, regulatory bodies have warned about the need to control its consumption. Among the solutions found for the reduction, is the partial or complete replacement of sucrose by other less caloric sweeteners. So, this work aimed to develop pasty dulce de leche formulations with alternative sweeteners to sucrose and to characterize them in terms of chemical and physical-chemical composition. The sweets were produced with sucrose (DLP), xylitol and sucralose (DLX), erythritol and sucralose (DLE). All formulations showed a caramel-brown color. As for moisture, the sweets ranged between 29.67 and 35.79%. All sweets also had protein contents greater than 5%, ranging from 13.27 to 17.19%. The fat contents for all formulations allow classifying them as dulce de leche with cream since they are above 9%. The amount of ash obtained from the formulations varied between 2.48 and 3.81%. The amounts of carbohydrates in the samples ranged from 33.35 to 43.58%. All dulce de leche showed high water activity values, suggesting they are more susceptible to microbial growth. The pH varied little between the prepared sweets (7.12 to 7.43), and the sweet that presented the highest acidity was the one made with xylitol and sucralose (1.13%), followed by the formulation with erythritol and sucralose (0.71 %) and the formulation with sucrose (0.31%). The three formulations developed showed a darker color and a tendency to red and yellow. The results obtained for the formulated sweets, in the texture analysis regarding hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and gumminess, are consistent with pasty-type sweets and reflect the differences in carbohydrates used in the formulations. Although there are technological obstacles in elaborating sucrose-free dulce de leche, this study indicates that its production is feasible.