Inhibitory effects of additives and heat treatment on the crystallization of freeze-dried sugar

An amorphous matrix of a sugar is frequently used as a bulk-forming and stabilizing agent in the food industry but tends to crystallize as the result of water uptake and increase in temperature. Additives and methods used to inhibit the crystallization of amorphous sugar (sucrose) were screened in this study. Freeze-dried amorphous sucrose containing 0.5-5 wt% of additive, including salts, different types of sugars, and polymers, the crystallization temperature (T_cry) and isothermal crystallization characteristics were examined. Certain types of salts markedly increased the T_cry and prolonged the induction period for crystal nucleation. The use of 1 wt% MgCl₂ was particularly effective in inhibiting sugar crystallization. The heat treatment of crystalline sucrose under appropriate conditions was also found to result in diminished sucrose crystallization. MALDI-TOF mass spectra of the heat-treated sucrose suggested that sucrose derivatives containing multiple pyranose groups were formed, which would closely relate to the crystallization inhibition. Finally, the protein stabilizing effects of the matrices were evaluated. The results indicated that both the addition of additives and the heat treatment resulted in an improvement of the protein stabilizing effect of amorphous sugar matrix, compared to that of sucrose alone.