EFFECT OF POLYOLS AND POLYDEXTROSE ON THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUGARLESS PINEAPPLE TART

The Malaysian traditional pineapple tart contains approximately 26.8% total sugar (as inverted sugar). Polyols and polydextrose were used in conjunction with stevia as the sweetener in this study to replace the role played by sugar. The physical effects of these products were evaluated via colour (lightness, L* value, yellowness, b* value and redness, a* value) and texture measurement. The outer appearance of the product was not significantly (p>0.05) affected by the substitution of polyols and polydextrose for some of the sugar. Internally, the lightness (L*) value of the treated products using stevia+polyol (SF1) and stevia+polydextrose (SFL) did not result in any significant difference (p>0.05) when compared to the control sample (C) containing sugar. The b* and a* values of the inner part of C were significantly higher (p<0.05) when compared to SF1 and SFL tarts. The texture measurement, an indication of hardness, of C, SF1 and SFL were not different (p>0.05). The fracturability value of SF1 (11.9 g/s) was not significantly different (p>0.05) from values for C (11.7 g/s) and SFL (11.6 g/s).