Sweetness and texture perceptions in structured gelatin gels with embedded sugar rich domains

Layered and homogeneous gelatin gels with controlled rheological properties were compared for their sensory characteristics, specifically sweetness, hardness, breakdown behaviour and frothing. All gels and layers had a gelatin/water concentration of 5%. The total sugar concentration was 9% in the layered samples and 0, 9, 15 or 22.5% in the homogeneous samples. These concentrations corresponded to the concentrations in the single layers.A seven-layered sample with different sugar concentrations in the layers gave a higher early sweetness intensity than a homogeneous gel with the same mean total sugar concentration. All layered gels were similar in hardness, breakdown behaviour and frothing; for the homogenous samples, sensory hardness was decreased in samples with much sugar. These gels also fell into smaller pieces than the sugarless sample. This study shows that it is possible by controlling the sugar distribution within a sample to produce sweeter gels while the sugar content is maintained.