Glass Transition Study in Model Food Systems Prepared with Mixtures of Fructose,Glucose, and Sucrose

Abstract: The glass transition temperature of model food systems prepared with several glucose/fructose/sucrose mass fractions was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A distance‐based experimental design for mixtures of 3 components was used to establish the proportion of sugars of the model systems. Thus, 32 compositions including individual sugars and sugar mixtures, both binary and ternary were prepared and analyzed. Thermograms showing the complete process of heating–cooling–reheating were used to determine the precise glass transition temperature during cooling () or reheating () in amorphous sugars. The Scheffe cubic model was applied to experimental results to determine the influence of sugar composition on the glass transition temperature (P < 0.05). The final model proved to be appropriate (R² > 0.97, CV < 9%, model significance <0.0001) to predict the T_g values of any dry mixture of amorphous fructose, glucose, and sucrose. Practical Application: The experimental values of T_g and the mathematical model proposed in this work may be of great use for making available T_g data that involves the mixture of more than 2 sugars and thus could be used as a tool for predicting the storage stability and quality of dehydrated products such as fruit powders.