Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

A food company in Sweden has experiencing issues with the viscosity being too low in one of their gel products and the problem is ongoing. The problem has been investigated, and some alterations have been implemented both in method and in process parameters earlier. However, the problem is still inconsistent and affects the production. The problem leads to both economic and environmental consequences and also challenges within the production.
In gel products pectin is commonly used in the food industry. Pectin is a polysaccharide widely used in fruit sauces and jams. As a gelling agent, pectin will affect the viscosity of the product.
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how various factors, such as different pectin blends, added calcium or added citric acid affect the viscosity of the gel product. The aim was to achieve an increased viscosity of the product, without compromising the sensory perception. The investigations were performed by using instrumental and sensory measurements to evaluate the product. The subjective measurements were preference ranking test and visual inspection. The instrumental inspections included compositional analysis such as pH, brix, moisture content, as well as rheological analysis using both a Bostwick consistometer and a rheometer. The results showed that viscosity increased with the addition of calcium and with a new pectin blend, however sensory evaluation is important, the results proved that none of them was an optimal solution from a sensory point of view, specially not the samples with the new pectin combined with added calcium. Additional investigation is needed to find the root cause of the problem to avoid low viscosity, investigation could include changes in the master recipe, e.g. other concentrations of water or change pectin types, another measure is to look at different process parameters.