Quality Characteristics and Sensory Properties of Reduced Sugar Meringues

Chua, Chi Han (2022) Quality Characteristics and Sensory Properties of Reduced Sugar Meringues. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

Text Chua Chi Han_Full Text.pdf Restricted to Registered users only Download (679kB)

Abstract

Most of the meringue in the current market are mainly made up of caster sugar, but caster sugar contains high amounts of free sugar which can increase the risk of diabetes and obesity. This project aims to investigate the effect of allulose as sugar substitute on physico-chemical properties, total sugar content and proximate composition of reduced sugar meringues, and to evaluate its sensory properties and consumer acceptability. Meringues were prepared by substituting caster sugar with 0% (Control), 25% (Sample 1), and 50% (sample 2) of allulose into them. The colour, texture, water activity, total sugar content, and proximate composition of the meringue were determined. Sensory evaluation was conducted using a 9-point hedonic scale test and preference test. By comparing to the control meringue, meringue with allulose substitution had lower L* value, higher a* value and b* value. The hardness and fracturability of meringue with allulose substitution had no significant difference compared to control meringue (p > 0.05). However, meringue with allulose substitution had significantly lower (p < 0.05) total sugar content and significantly higher (p < 0.05) ash content compared to the control meringue. All three meringue samples had no significant difference in the protein, fat and crude fiber contents (p > 0.05). Sample 2 (50% allulose) had the lowest carbohydrate content (84.64 ± 0.44%), total sugar content (63.49 ± 0.19 g/100g) and calories content (381.47 ± 1.30 kcal). For sensory evaluation, there are no significant differences on appearance, aroma, taste, colour, texture and overall acceptance (p > 0.05) among three meringue samples. Sample 1 that used 25% of allulose as substitute was the most preferred meringue (46.67%), followed by sample 2 (50% allulose) at 40.00% from the preference test. In conclusion, allulose has greater potential to replace caster sugar to enhance the overall quality and nutritional value in meringues