The polymer agar powder (algae Gelidium sesquipedale, Rapunzel, Germany) was used as texture forming with mucoadhesive properties for nutraceutical chewing candies. In addition, gelatine was also tested (Klingai, Lithuania). Xylitol (Natur Hurtig, Nuremberg, Germany), citric acid (Sanitex, Kaunas, Lithuania), and sugar (“Nordic Sugar Kėdainiai“, Kedainiai, Lithuania) were purchased in a local market (JSC ‘Maxima LT’, Kaunas, Lithuania). Ascorbic acid (JSC “Stada Baltics”, Vilnius, Lithuania) was purchased in a local pharmacy company (JSC “Eurovaistine, Kaunas, Lithuania), and grapefruit (Citrus paradise, producer JSC “Zolotonošskaja PKF”, Komunarovskaja, Ukraine) and mint (Mentha spicata, producer JSC “Naujoji Barmune“, Vilnius, Lithuania) essential oils were obtained from JSC “Gintarine vaistine” (Kaunas, Lithuania).
The formula of the control chewing candy (/gummi) group consisted of sugar (17 g), water (20 mL), citric acid (0.7 g) or ascorbic acid (0.9 g), and agar (4.6 g) or gelatine (8.5 g). Furthermore, in the formulation of gummies, sugar was changed by xylitol, and the basic recipe of chewing candy formulation consisted in xylitol (17 g), water (20 mL), citric acid (0.7 g) or ascorbic acid (0.9 g), and agar (4.6 g) or gelatine (8.5 g) (Table 1 ).
Nutraceutical chewing candies were prepared by including different quantities of fermented Spirulina, and mint and grapefruit essential oils were used as Spirulina odour masking agents. Nutraceuticals in chewing candy formulations are given inTable 1 .
For the preparation of nutraceutical chewing candies, firstly, agar or gelatine powder was soaked in water for 30 min and afterwards melted by heating for 15 min at 90 °C. Sugar or xylitol was added and dissolved in the mixture under boiling. The obtained mixture was further heated to 90 °C under stirring. Citric acid or ascorbic acid and different quantities of fermented Spirulina and essential oils were incorporated into nutraceutical chewing candy mass at the end of the process (mass temperature 40 °C). The obtained mass after mixing was poured into a cast, and nutraceutical gummies were dried at 22 ± 2 °C for 24 h to obtain a gel-hard form.
The hardness of nutraceutical chewing candies was evaluated by Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) using a Texture Analyser TA.XT2 (StableMicro Systems Ltd., Godalming, UK) (compression force 0.5 N, test speed 0.5 mm/s, post-test speed 2 mm/s and distance 6 mm). Sensory analysis of nutraceuticals was carried out according to the ISO 6658 method [37 ]. Thirty panellists evaluated the overall acceptability (OA) of gummies using the hedonic scale from 0 (extremely dislike) to 10 (extremely like).
After obtaining an optimal Spirulina and essential oil content, according to overall acceptability, the most acceptable samples were further analysed by evaluating nutraceutical emotions induced in panellists using the FaceReader 6.0 software (Noldus Information Technology, Wageningen, The Netherlands) and scaling eight emotion patterns (neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted, and contempt). The panellists were asked to rate the nutraceutical samples during and after consumption with an intentional facial expression, which was recorded and then characterised by FaceReader 6.0. The panellists were asked to taste the whole presented sample at once, take 15 s to reflect on the taste impressions, then give a signal with a hand and visualised the taste experience of the sample with a facial expression best representing their liking of the sample. The whole procedure was filmed using a high-resolution Microsoft LifeCam Studio webcam mounted on a laptop facing the participants and Media Recorder (Noldus Information Technology, Wageningen, The Netherlands) software. Special care was taken to ensure good illumination of participants’ faces. The recordings, using a resolution of 1280 × 720 at 30 frames per second, were saved as AVI files and subsequently analysed frame by frame with FaceReader 6.0 software. For each sample, the section of intentional facial expression (from the exact point at which the subject had finished raising their hand to give the signal until the subject started lowering their hand again) was extracted and used for statistical analysis.
The formula of the control chewing candy (/gummi) group consisted of sugar (17 g), water (20 mL), citric acid (0.7 g) or ascorbic acid (0.9 g), and agar (4.6 g) or gelatine (8.5 g). Furthermore, in the formulation of gummies, sugar was changed by xylitol, and the basic recipe of chewing candy formulation consisted in xylitol (17 g), water (20 mL), citric acid (0.7 g) or ascorbic acid (0.9 g), and agar (4.6 g) or gelatine (8.5 g) (
Nutraceutical chewing candies were prepared by including different quantities of fermented Spirulina, and mint and grapefruit essential oils were used as Spirulina odour masking agents. Nutraceuticals in chewing candy formulations are given in
For the preparation of nutraceutical chewing candies, firstly, agar or gelatine powder was soaked in water for 30 min and afterwards melted by heating for 15 min at 90 °C. Sugar or xylitol was added and dissolved in the mixture under boiling. The obtained mixture was further heated to 90 °C under stirring. Citric acid or ascorbic acid and different quantities of fermented Spirulina and essential oils were incorporated into nutraceutical chewing candy mass at the end of the process (mass temperature 40 °C). The obtained mass after mixing was poured into a cast, and nutraceutical gummies were dried at 22 ± 2 °C for 24 h to obtain a gel-hard form.
The hardness of nutraceutical chewing candies was evaluated by Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) using a Texture Analyser TA.XT2 (StableMicro Systems Ltd., Godalming, UK) (compression force 0.5 N, test speed 0.5 mm/s, post-test speed 2 mm/s and distance 6 mm). Sensory analysis of nutraceuticals was carried out according to the ISO 6658 method [37 ]. Thirty panellists evaluated the overall acceptability (OA) of gummies using the hedonic scale from 0 (extremely dislike) to 10 (extremely like).
After obtaining an optimal Spirulina and essential oil content, according to overall acceptability, the most acceptable samples were further analysed by evaluating nutraceutical emotions induced in panellists using the FaceReader 6.0 software (Noldus Information Technology, Wageningen, The Netherlands) and scaling eight emotion patterns (neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted, and contempt). The panellists were asked to rate the nutraceutical samples during and after consumption with an intentional facial expression, which was recorded and then characterised by FaceReader 6.0. The panellists were asked to taste the whole presented sample at once, take 15 s to reflect on the taste impressions, then give a signal with a hand and visualised the taste experience of the sample with a facial expression best representing their liking of the sample. The whole procedure was filmed using a high-resolution Microsoft LifeCam Studio webcam mounted on a laptop facing the participants and Media Recorder (Noldus Information Technology, Wageningen, The Netherlands) software. Special care was taken to ensure good illumination of participants’ faces. The recordings, using a resolution of 1280 × 720 at 30 frames per second, were saved as AVI files and subsequently analysed frame by frame with FaceReader 6.0 software. For each sample, the section of intentional facial expression (from the exact point at which the subject had finished raising their hand to give the signal until the subject started lowering their hand again) was extracted and used for statistical analysis.
Free full text: Click here
