61A-7 |
Cotton candy shelf life |
P. S. LABUZA1, K. J. Ottman2, and T. P. LABUZA2. (1) Grade 7, Saint John the Baptist Elementary School, 845 2nd Ave. N.W., New Brighton, MN 55112, (2) Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition, Univ. of Minnesota, 1354 Eckles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55108 Cotton candy (known as angel floss in some countries) is one of the oldest confections yet very little has been done on it's shelf life. Basically cotton candy is made by melting sucrose above 210 C in a rotating bowl which then shoots out streamlines of molten liquid sucrose into the air where it rapidly cools into an amorphous state resembling glass wool insulation. Given that the amorphous material is highly hygroscopic, it can quickly pick up 1-2 grams of water per 100 g solids but will still be in the glassy state at room temperature however with a slightly sticky surface. This allows it to stick to the paper cone used to form the product. Some companies have formed a web based business selling gourmet flavored products but have run into the problem of collapse and recrystallization of the product during distribution, resulting in less than 7 days shelf life. We hypothesize that the stability is directly related to the position of the product (moisture/temperature) on the state diagram and that moisture gain through the package or temperature abuse cause loss of product integrity. Our objective was to study the stability of cotton candy at 25 and 35 C at relative humidities from dry to 45%. Both visual measurements and X-Ray diffraction using a Seimens 5002 powder diffractometer were used. We found that at 33% RH and either temperature the cotton candy collapsed within 3 days while in < one day at 45% RH. This means packaging is need to prevent moisture gain of about 4 grams over the desired shelf life. At 11% RH (~1% moisture) the cotton candy was stable for 9 months at 25 and 45 C but collapsed and crystallized in one day above 50 C, which should be the upper temperature limit in transport.
Session 61A, Carbohydrate
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