Crystalline Layer Formation of Highly Viscous Supersaturated Liquids

The handling of highly viscous supersaturated liquids during nucleation and crystal growth is an important challenge. Here, solutions mixed with hydrocolloids were tested for the formation of gelled products enclosed by a crystallized layer of sucrose from the starting liquid mixture. To create reproducible layers on the gel body, the nucleation needs to be initiated by external seed materials. The influence of the hydrocolloids on the crystallization process and therefore the crystal growth in combination with the different seeds for nucleation (starch, icing sugar) was tested and evaluated. Different external seed materials can have an influence on the thickness of the sugar layers. A significant influence on the thickness of the crystalline layers can be found by the use of different highly viscous solutions. The influence of hydrocolloids on sugar crystallization during the nucleation process with different external seed materials (icing sugar, and starch) and also during crystal growth are interesting topics in the confectionary industry. Hydrocolloids are shown to change the growth of sugar layers, thus leading to different product properties.