Confectionery industry is one of the fast-growing food processing industries with a wide range of products. A wide range of products with different colors and flavors produced. Because of their wide range of colors and flavors, kids can be easily attracted. Confectionery products are widely consumed due to the flavor and textural properties and pleasure given by them and available at cheaper cost. The confectionery products are made with base ingredient sugar and with wide range of ingredients like flour, cocoa, gelling agents, flavors, colors, fruits, nuts and oils. The wide range of ingredients will help to make wide range of confectionery products with little variation.
The confectionery products mainly classified into sugar confectionery, flour confectionery and chocolate confectionery. There are also other classifications based on the commercial definition like Commercial Definition like plain hard candy, filled boiled sweets like fruit filled, fat filled, nuts filled etc., grained sugar confectionery like fondant and fudge, caramelized products, chewing gums, aerated products like marshmallows, sugar less products made of artificial sweeteners, lozenges, marzipan and soft candy. Confectionery products also classified based on the forming process into plastic hard candy, balled sweets, drops, deposited hard candies and lollipops.
Advantages of confectionery products:
They help to prevent dryness of the mouth
Improves digestion
Gives pleasure and satiety feeling
Improves mental health and makes us active
Decrease mental stress
Chocolates prevents ageing
Products with functional ingredients ginger and garlic protects the heart
Chocolate improves the immune system of the body
Confectionery products made for sports persons to provide instant energy
Chocolates increase antioxidant levels in blood
Disadvantages of confectionery products:
Consumptions of large number of chocolates will cause weight gain
Daily consumption of confectionery products causes decay of teeth
Increase in risk of diabetes
Chocolates increase migraine
They don’t provide any vitamins or minerals
In view of above disadvantages many novel confectionery products developed to make the confectionery healthy. Various novel techniques like micro and nano encapsulation techniques used to incorporate functional ingredients into the confectionery products. Many national and international companies working on confectionery products to improve the health benefits. Such type of some novel confectionery products discussed below.
Microencapsulation in confectionery products:
Nowadays people are more conscious about their health and focusing more on natural products than the artificial. In confectionery, most of the flavors and colors used are synthetic in origin, which are not good for health when taken in excess for a longer time. To avoid these problems industries are trying to use flavors and colors of natural origin, which are highly beneficial to health. However, they are not stable in processing or storage. To improve the stability of the natural flavors microencapsulation is the present novel technique followed by the industries.
In this microencapsulation technique, the natural flavors or colors are encapsulated in various wall materials like proteins, fats, hydrocolloids and protect them from adverse conditions during processing and storage. These encapsulated ingredients used as flavoring and coloring agents in confectionery products. These products have more consumer acceptance than the products made from synthetic ingredients. The natural colors like carotenoids and anthocyanin’s have good health promoting benefits. They protect from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, arteriosclerosis, high antioxidant activity and shows anti-inflammatory activity.
Xylitol and menthol known to provide cooling effect. Santos et al. (2014) developed microcapsules of xylitol and menthol, incorporated in chewing gum, and studied the effect of encapsulation on cooling effect of xylitol and menthol. The microcapsules promoted the gradual release of xylitol and menthols and prolonged the cooling effect on prolonged time of chewing.
Chewing gums in drug delivery and nutritious confectionery:
Chewing gums are one of the largely consumed confectionery product to have the pleasure and satiety feeling. They also reduce the mental stress. The chewing gums are used as systems for drug delivery because of easy administration, local effect, systematic effect, fast onset of action, lest side effects and less risk of overdosing and easily used by children and old age patients. The sugar free chewing gums are gaining the popularity, as they are beneficial to dental health. Researches shown that use of sugar free chewing gum re-elevates plaque PH important in dental caries. Dentists are recommending using sugar free chewing gum after eating as a substitution to tooth brushing. Chlorhexidine used as mouth rinse incorporated in chewing gums, which makes it more convenient to use and prevents staining of teeth. Chewing as a drug delivery system beneficial in minor pain treatment and reduces gastrointestinal side effects.
The drugs incorporated in chewing gum showed faster absorption than the tablets and faster pain relief. Adults and children can easily use the drugs incorporated with drugs conveniently. These chewing gums are gaining demand in curing nausea and motion sickness. The chewing gums with calcium supplements are available in the market, which helps to the group of people with calcium deficiency especially women in post menopause stage. These chewing gums meet the recommended daily intake of calcium and easy to take than the calcium tablets. These chewing gums also showed high calcium absorption in the body than the tablets.
“Basic Bites” are sugar free soft chews developed and tested at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine and sold by Ortek Therapeutics Inc. These Basic bites coat teeth with vital nutrients found in saliva, arginine, bicarbonate and calcium carbonate mimics the enamel and protects the teeth. The beneficial bacteria convert arginine into base or and neutralizes the acids developed by harmful bacteria and maintains PH balance. Dentists are recommending taking basic bites after having food maintains enamel health proven clinically.
Sweetory Boss Gum a product developed in South Korea contains guarana and taurine for energy. It is also incorporated with chamomile leaves, which helps to prevent sleeplessness and have many health benefits for digestive system. These products have high demand in developed countries in which sleeplessness is one of the major disorders in people due the heavy stress. For such kind of people, this product is best option, which makes them asleep due to the chamomile extract in it. This helps to avoid the sleeping tablets, which are not recommended for longer usage, may cause severe health effects in case of prolonged or heavier dosage, and may even it may cause coma or death if taken in higher dosage.
A German pediatrician developed a Chocolate bar named “Doctor Choco” provides 50 % of the RDA of Vitamin D made with pure cocoa and with low sugar content.
Honey as a sugar substitute:
Due to the risk of diabetes and tooth decay in children, consumers preferring sugar free healthy products. To meet this requirement honey is the best alternative for the sugar due to its bioactive compounds. The jelly candies with honey developed which are the healthy substitutes for conventional jelly products. Some companies are also developing candies with fruit juices, which make these candies even more colorful and nutritious.
Candies with bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity:
The candies rich in bioactive compounds developed with bioactive compounds and increased antioxidant activity by incorporation of natural ingredients like ginger and beetroot pomace, which have good health befits for digestive system and high antioxidant activity. The betalains are incorporated into the candies have good gelling and morphological properties and high antioxidant activity.
The tea leaves incorporated in the confectionery products and antioxidant rich products are developed. Nestle one of the leading food processing industries incorporated green tea leaves into its conventional chocolate confectionery product Kit Kat and developed product rich with catechin and polyphenol content very beneficial to healthy and a healthy substitute for conventional chocolate confectionery.
Sugar substituted confectionery and confectionery as sugar substitute:
As the conventional sugar, confectionery has high risk of diabetes and high calories, confectionery products with non-nutritive sweeteners are gaining popularity. The sugar substituted with artificial sweeteners sugar alcohols like Aspartame, Cyclamate, Neotame, Saccharine, Sucralose are used which have more sweetness than sugar and non-nutritive. Stevia a natural sweetener is gaining more popularity due to its natural origin.
Low calorie confectionery products developed which can be used as a substitute for sugar in daily use. Lampados International has launched a next-gen meringue kiss sweetener named “Liteez”. It is a natural plant based vegan confectionery free from allergens such as eggs, gluten and lactose. Two Liteez units gives 2 calories, instead of 20 calories in one tablespoon of sugar and best substitute for beverages like tea and coffee. It is the first 3D sweetener in the globally and gives a feel of regular sweeteners. Vegetable protein and fibers are used as bulking agents and can be consumed as a snack directly.
Vegan Confectionery:
Nowadays vegetarians are more conscious not only about the food but also the ingredients used in the products are from plant animal origin or not. Gelatin is one such controversial ingredient, which is mostly of animal origin. Nondairy chocolate confectioneries are also gaining importance and growing interest in vegetable-based gelatin and non-animal sourced ingredients. “Swizzels Drumstick choos” fruit flavored chewy sweets developed by Swizzles Matlow, Norway. It is free from artificial colors and is suitable for vegetarians. In 2017, 11 % confectionery launched was vegetarian. Matgum pam, Clear gum L7015 are the two best substitutes for animal-based gelatin with excellent gelling properties and gives texture similar to the gelatin.
3D Printing:
3D printing gaining its importance in food processing in production of novel artistic food products and food with regulated number of calories and more stable. In confectionery 3D printing gaining popularity in production of 3D confectionery products with desired shapes important in gifting confectionery products. Hershey a leading producer of chocolate confectionery products collaborated with Tech firm 3D systems to produce personalized 3D chocolate bars ay Hershey’s chocolate world, Pennsylvania. Barry Callebaut of Europe are producing 3D printed Belgian chocolates.
Conclusion:
The healthy confectionery products are gaining importance and popularity in today market. The artificial sweeteners substituted products are most commonly seen in present day market. The drugs and bioactive compounds incorporated confectionery products are novel confectionery products in present market which are important for healthy lifestyle.
Good Job , very well articulated. there should be awarness created about food color , sugar substitute and many other ingredients , Wish kids have subject about food in school and choose healthy options
Very nice Article on confectionery covering all latest technologies and facts and fads related to confectionery and health.
Congratulations dear Gopinath.