Physical, textural and sensory characteristics of reduced sucrose cakes, incorporated with clean-label sugar-replacing alternative ingredients

High levels of sucrose in foods present a great risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Therefore a low sucrose intake is strongly recommended. Sweet baked products incorporate high levels of sucrose. Sucrose in the original cake formulation was reduced and replaced with apple pomace, whey permeate, oligofructose, polydextrose. An acceptable sucrose reduction of between 21 and 27% was achieved. Cakes containing apple pomace had the lowest specific volume (1.8 cm³/g) and highest crumb firmness (8.60 N) (P <.05). Apple pomace and whey permeate had a significantly decreased L* values of the crust (P <.05). Moisture content of the cake crumb was increased significantly with the addition of oligofructose, whey permeate and polydextrose. All treatments resulted in a significant increase of the water activity of the cake crumb compared to the control (P <.05). Crumb cell structure was maintained as shown by 2-D and confocal imaging. Sensory trials revealed the reformulated cakes were acceptable to panellists. Industrial relevance: Public awareness about the health risks of diets high in sugar have increased dramatically for the last number of years. Governmental and professional groups have recommended sucrose to be reduced in certain food products; therefore the food industry is now seeking ways to reduce the sugar by substituting other materials. However, most people enjoy the taste and texture of high sugar foods, and may not want to give them up. As sugar is present in such significant amounts in cakes, altering the level used will greatly affect dough consistency and final product characteristics. Efforts have made over the last number of years to explore alternative sweetening ingredients including bulk sweeteners (polyols) and high intensity sweeteners as sucrose replacers (Di Monaco et al., 2018). However, recent consumer trends indicate a movement towards a ‘clean label’. Clean label implies a food a low number of ingredients and ingredients with names with the consumer can understand (Skelke, 2018). Polyols and high intensity artificial sweeteners are not considered to be a ‘clean label’ ingredient, and therefore alternatives must be reviewed. This study investigates the use of clean label sweetening ingredients. Apple pomace and whey permeate are by-products of the juice and dairy industry. Both polydextrose and oligofructose can be classified as dietary fibres, and also provide other functional properties to the cake.