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Gummy candy is a candy with high moisture content, soft, elastic and tough. Some are sticky and some are brittle. There are transparent ones as well as translucent and opaque ones.

The moisture content in gummy candies ranges from 7 to 24, while reducing sugars range from 20 to 40. The shape is rectangular or irregular.

The main feature of gummies is that they contain different types of colloids, which give the sugar bodies gel properties, so they are also called gel candies. Gummies are named after the colloid used. Such as starch gummies, agar gummies, gelatin gummies, etc.

Starch gummies use starch or modified starch as colloid. Starch gummies are glutinous in nature, have poor transparency, and have a moisture content between 7 and 18. They are mostly made into fruity or refreshing flavors.

Agar gum uses agar as a colloid. This kind of gummy candy has good transparency, good elasticity, toughness and brittleness. They are mostly made into fruity, refreshing and milky flavors. Crystal gummies are agar gummies. The moisture content is approximately between 18 and 24.

Gelatin gummies use gelatin as a colloid. The product is transparent, elastic and tough. The water content is similar to that of agar gum, and it is often made into fruity, milky or refreshing flavors.

It is suitable to add nutritional ingredients or therapeutic drugs to the gummy candies to make nutritious gummies or therapeutic gummies.

The composition of gummy candies is mainly composed of sugars and colloids. The proportions of these two ingredients vary depending on the type and nature of the gummy candy.

1. Starch soft candy

Sucrose 35～45 Starch syrup (dry solid) 35～45

Moisture 14～18 Modified starch 12～13

2. Agar fudge

Sucrose 55~65, starch syrup (dry solid) 30~40

Moisture 18~24, agar 1.5~2. 5

Gummy colloid 1. Starch: Starch is added to soft candies as a colloid, so making soft candies requires the use of starch with strong gelling properties.

The molecular weight of chain starch is small, but its gelling power is strong; the molecular weight of amylopectin is large, but its gelling power is poor. Natural starches extracted from cereals have different gelling powers depending on the ratio of the two starches they contain. Most of the bean starch is chain starch, which has good gelling power and is suitable for the needs of candies. Almost all starch in glutinous rice, sticky corn, and sticky sorghum belongs to amylopectin, which has poor gelling properties. The chain starch in corn flour accounts for about 27%. It has strong gelling power and is suitable for the requirements of soft candies. In corn, the gelling power of yellow corn starch is better than that of white corn.

Soft candies have the following requirements for starch properties: (1) Strong gelling power. (2) Has lower thermal viscosity. (3) It has good solubility and fluidity in water. (4) Has normal smell and color.

There are very few natural starches that have the above properties. Therefore, in the candy industry, starch needs to be denatured. Improve its gelling power, reduce its thermal viscosity, and improve its water solubility and fluidity. The processed starch is called modified starch or light boiling starch.

The methods of denaturing starch include acid method and enzymatic method. Generally, the acid method is used. Hydrochloric acid has a strong effect at high temperatures, so it should be carried out at low temperatures. At low temperatures, hydrochloric acid molecules can penetrate into the starch vesicles along with water molecules, gradually cutting off some branches and loosening the starch vesicles. In this way, the starch shape is still maintained in appearance, but its physical properties are changed, the viscosity is reduced, and the water solubility and fluidity are enhanced, becoming a modified starch suitable for the requirements of starch soft candy.

2. Agar agar: also known as frozen powder and agar. It is extracted from seaweed. The agar content in seaweed is 25-35. Agar is a polymer of galactose. Straight-chain agar composed of galactose is called chain agar, and its gelling power is very strong; branched-chain agar has weaker gelling power.

Agar is easy to absorb water and swell. It can dissolve into a viscous aqueous solution in hot water and solidify into a transparent gel after cooling. It is mostly used to produce crystal gummies and snowflake gummies.

The strength of the gel is an indicator of the quality of agar. A solution of high-quality agar with a concentration of 0.1 can form a jelly; a solution with a concentration of 0.4 can form a jelly, but the quality is poorer; a solution of inferior agar can form a jelly with a concentration above 0.6.

The agar gel dosage of agar soft candy is generally 1.0~1.5. When using, first dissolve it in 20 times the amount of water, and then condense it into a jelly before use.

Agar aqueous solution is stable in the range of pH 4.5 to 9. Under acidic conditions below pH 4.5, it will decompose and destroy, losing its gelling ability. Therefore, agar jelly is mostly made into sweet type rather than sour type.

Poaching at high temperatures for a long time will destroy the gelling ability of agar. Therefore, the boiling temperature should be controlled after adding agar, generally the boiling temperature is between 105 and 109°C. Although the sugar is soft and delicious, its structure is soft and waxy and not solid, so it needs to be baked to remove part of the water and increase its toughness.

Agar is not absorbed in human digestive organs and does not go rancid. It can retain a large amount of water and has a laxative effect.

Production Principle Various gummies have a colloid as the skeleton. After this hydrophilic colloid absorbs a large amount of water, it turns into a liquid sol, and after cooling, it turns into a soft, elastic and tough gel.

Due to different types of colloids, the properties of the gels formed are different: starch gel is sticky and waxy, has good extensibility, and has poor transparency; agar gel has poor transparency and extensibility, and is elastic, tough, and brittle. Gelatin has strong elasticity and toughness, and is resistant to chewing, but has poor transparency.

The colloid used in the production of soft candies is a kind of linear colloidal particles. Due to different linear structures, the formed colloids have different properties.

The network structure formed by linear colloidal particles is elastic and tough; the branch-like structure formed by linear colloidal particles is fragile. These structures form the gummy skeleton, and the network or branch-like structure is filled with water, sugar or other substances, forming a stable water-containing colloid, which is the sugar body of the gummy.

The lines of colloidal particles are long, tightly intertwined, the network pores are large, and there are many fillers that can be absorbed. The gummy produced has better elasticity, toughness and softness; on the contrary, if the lines of colloidal particles are Short, the interweaving is not firm, the network pores are small, and there are less fillers that can be adsorbed in the pores. The produced soft candy is brittle, has poor elasticity and toughness. Therefore, in the production of soft candies, we should try our best to protect the colloidal lines from being damaged and shortened, so as not to affect the quality of the soft candies.

In the production of soft candies, the acidity, high temperature and boiling time of the sugar solution may destroy the linear structure of the colloidal particles. Care should be taken to control these factors in gummy production to ensure the quality of the finished product.

All kinds of gummies contain a lot of water (10-20). High moisture content can easily promote the recrystallization of sucrose molecules and cause sanding back. In order to prevent gummy candies from sanding back, soft candies contain a large amount of reducing sugar.

1. Starch gummies

Preparation method 1. Boil sugar. Adjust the modified starch into modified starch slurry according to the formula. The amount of water added is 8 to 10 times that of dry modified starch. Place the sugar and starch syrup in a sugar boiler with a stirrer and heat and boil. Stir while boiling. The stirring speed is 26 rpm. The end point is reached when the concentration reaches 72.

In addition, hot steam pipes can also be used to boil sugar under pressurized conditions. It can shorten the sugar boiling period.

2． Casting molding. First use starch to make a model. The moisture content of the starch used to make the model is 5 to 8. It is best to keep the temperature of the powder mold at 37 to 49°C. When the material is cooked to a concentration of 72 or above, add pigments, flavors and seasonings. After the temperature is 90-93°C, pouring and molding are continued, and the pouring temperature is 82-93°C.

3． Dry, mix sand, dry. Cast-molded starch gummies contain a large amount of moisture and require a drying process to remove part of the moisture. The drying temperature and ventilation conditions of the drying room are important factors affecting the drying speed and soft candy quality.

The drying of starch gummies is divided into two stages: in the first stage, the drying temperature is maintained at 60-65°C, the optimal temperature is 63°C, and the relative humidity is below 70. The main thing removed in the early stage of drying is free water.

The transfer of water is as follows: the water in the mold powder continues to evaporate and diffuse; the water on the surface of the soft candy transfers to the mold powder; the water inside the soft candy continuously transfers to the surface.

During the drying process, a large amount of invert sugar will be produced in the gummy candies.

Take out the soft candy that has been dried to a certain extent, remove the remaining powder on the surface, and mix with granulated sugar.

Drying after mixing the sand is to remove excess water and water vapor brought during the sand mixing process to prevent the adhesion of the sugar granules. The drying process can be completed when the soft candy moisture does not exceed 8 and the reducing sugar reaches 30 to 40.

2. Agar fudge

Preparation method 1. Soaking agar: Soak the selected agar in cold water, the water consumption is about 20 times, depending on the quality of the agar. In order to speed up the melting, it can be heated to 85~95℃, filtered after melting.

2． Boiling sugar: The ratio of sugar to starch syrup varies depending on whether it is cut into pieces or molded. The amount of starch syrup used for cutting and molding is high, while the amount of granulated sugar used for casting is high. Caramel can also be used instead of starch syrup.

First dissolve the sugar with water, add the dissolved agar, heat it to 105~106℃, add starch syrup, and boil it until the required concentration. The concentration of the molded soft candy should be At 78 to 79, the concentration of the cut into pieces can be slightly lower.

3 Adjust color, fragrance and acidity: After the sugar liquid is removed from the fire source, add pigments and spices. Add citric acid when the temperature of the sugar solution drops below 76°C. In order to protect the agar from acid decomposition, sodium citrate equivalent to one-fifth of the acid amount can be added as a buffer before adding acid. The acidity of agarose is preferably controlled at pH 4.5 to 5.0.

4． Forming: including cutting into pieces or casting into molds. Before cutting into pieces, the sugar liquid needs to be condensed on the cooling table. The condensation time is about 0.5 to 1 hour. Then cut into pieces.

For casting molding, the temperature of the powder mold should be maintained at 32~35℃, and the temperature of the syrup should not be lower than 65℃. It takes more than 3 hours of setting time after pouring. The optimal condensation temperature is about 38°C.

5. Drying and packaging: After forming the agarose, it needs to be dried in a drying room to remove part of the moisture. The appropriate temperature of the drying room is 26~43℃. If the temperature is too high and the drying speed is too fast, the outer layer of the gummy will turn into a hard shell and the surface will shrink. When it is dry and no longer sticky, the moisture content should not exceed 20%. In order to prevent mildew, the agar fudge must be tightly packed.