Possible sugar substitutes to reduce sugar in bread : without affecting taste and quality

Sammanfattning: The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending a reduction of added sugars in food to decrease non-communicable diseases. This study was made in a collaboration with the bread company Pågen, who wants to reduce the added sugar, sucrose, to meet the recommendations from WHO and the consumer's wishes for less sugar in bread. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate inulin and glucoamylase, separately, as sugar substitutes in three different bread products from Pågen and reducing the sugar content by 20-30% without affecting the quality. This was done by using instrumental and sensory measurements to examine e.g., the texture, volume, crumb structure, pH and acid content, as well as the taste of the bread samples with different concentrations of inulin and glucoamylase. The results show that within the products there were significant differences in texture when replacing sugar with inulin or glucoamylase. There was also great variation in texture and taste between the products. In this study alterations in texture and taste were noticed when using inulin or glucoamylase as sugar substitutes while reducing the sugar content by 20-30%. Due to the complex matrix in bread and the significant role of sugars in bread it is difficult to find sugar substitutes that don’t change the quality or the taste. Additional research may be needed to find sugar replacers that have the same characteristics and taste as sucrose has in bread.