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TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a liquid or semi-liquid dessert product and more particular to a no sugar-added liquid or semi-liquid dessert product, such as syrup, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup,0 topping sauce, fruit topping, fruit preparation, jam or marmalade, and other liquid or semi-liquid comestible product for diabetics and people on low carbohydrate diets or weight management diets, wherein said product has low or no sugar content, low glycemic index and increased amount of dietary fibres, and a method for the preparation thereof. 5 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumption of foods with high content of sugars has as a result the increase of blood glucose. A high level of blood glucose can lead to unwanted physiological situations for the human body and furthermore, it may provoke a disease. The natural body response towards blood glucose0 increase is insulin secretion from the pancreas. Insulin restores the normal level of glucose in the blood.

However, the human body, due to metabolic disorders, is not always able to restore glucose levels to normal levels and this is known as metabolic syndrome. This is due to the following5 reasons:

a) lack of insulin secretion caused by the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas. This phenomenon is known as diabetes mellitus type I.

b) inadequate secretion of insulin from the pancreas and / or reduced sensitivity of cells to insulin (insulin resistance). In this case, the cells of the human body cannot bind glucose, which continues to circulate in the blood. This phenomenon is known as diabetes mellitus type II.

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a grading system of carbohydrate-containing foods, according to their effect to the postprandial blood sugar levels. It is defined as the ratio of the area under the blood sugar response curve over 2 hours after ingestion of a constant amount of food (usually a 50g carbohydrate portion) divided by the area under the response curve of a reference food (usually glucose or white bread).

According to American Diabetes Association, the foods based on GI are classified as having low GI when GI is less than 55, as medium GI when GI is between 56 -69 and as high GI when GI is more than 70.

Nutrition based on a low GI has been increasingly recommended in recent years, with a view to its adoption in diets contributing to health and in particular to the glycemic control of people with diabetes (postprandial hyperglycemia reduction, thus lower average blood sugar levels). According to American Diabetics Association (ADA) in combination with carbohydrate counting, the GI may provide an additional benefit for achieving blood glucose goals.

The most commonly used sweeteners in order to partially or fully replace sucrose in a sugar-free liquid or semi liquid dessert product are liquid corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose syrup, etc. Various methods are already known for the industrial or homemade preparation of liquid or semi-liquid dessert products wherein sugar is replaced by other sweeteners. However, the prior art has encountered substantial difficulties in the production of no added sugar dessert products of which the organoleptic characteristics do not change.

US 3 867 560 describes dietetic confectioneries that are prepared from a mixture of carbohydrate, monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, protein, and gelling agents. The gelling agent contains at least 70% by weight of non-assimilable material. The entire amount of the gelling agent in the entire quantity of the mixture is between 12-20% by weight. High fructose corn syrup is used as the assimilable carbohydrate

US 3 876 794 discloses agents that can partially replace starch and sugars in normal flour. These products include cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, xanthan gum, polydextrose, polyglycerol esters, polyoxyethylene fatty acid esters and sucrose polyester. However, it is also mentioned that foods, which contain appreciable quantities of cellulose, exhibit poor palatability, texture, and mouth feel and thus, the use of cellulose in foods has been at relatively low levels. Hence, there is still a need for a dessert product with no added sugar, low glycemic index and without change in the taste, sweetness, texture and mouth feel of the final product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a liquid or semi-liquid dessert product with low Glycemic Index and no added sugar, which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art and avoids the organoleptic degradation due to the deduction of sugars.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid or semi-liquid product, such as syrup, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, topping sauce, fruit topping, fruit preparation, jam or marmalade, and other liquid or semi-liquid comestible product, with no added sugar having low glycemic index, wherein said final product can be consumed as such, or it can be used in combination with other low glycemic index confectioneries in order to prepare a complete dessert kit such as cheesecake, chocolate flavoured mousse, dessert with fruit topping and / or fruit filling, dessert with chocolate or fruit icing.

A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for the preparation of a liquid or semi-liquid dessert product, wherein said product has no added sugar, low glycemic index and increased amount of fibers and with improved organoleptic characteristics of the product.

In accordance with the above objects of the present invention, a liquid or semi-liquid dessert product is provided comprising water, an effective quantity of sweeteners, such as polyols, preferably maltitol, xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt, lactitol, erythritol or derivatives thereof, or steviol glycosides or derivatives thereof, in combination with an effective quantity of intensive sweeteners, such as sucralose and optionally an effective quantity of fibers, such wheat dextrins, wherein said product has no sugar added, low glycemic index and increased amount of fibers.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a process for the preparation of a liquid or semi-liquid dessert product, such as chocolate syrup, comprising water, an effective quantity of sweeteners, such as polyols, preferably maltitol, xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt, lactitol, erythritol or derivatives thereof, or steviol glycosides or derivatives thereof in combination with an effective quantity of cocoa powder and of intensive sweeteners, such as sucralose and optionally an effective quantity of fibers, such as wheat dextrins, wherein said product has no sugar added, low glycemic index and increased amount of fibers, is provided which comprises:

- adding the total quantity of ssweeteners, wheat dextrins, cocoa powder and water into a double wall tank boiler and brought to boil

- adding acidity regulators and the preservative while boiling

- passing the obtained product through a heat exchanger and packaged in plastic bottles, sachets or any other type of container depending on the desired use.

Further preferred embodiments of the present invention are defined in dependent claims 2 to 10, 12, 13 and 14. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the following detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a no added sugar liquid or semi-liquid dessert product with low GI is provided without affecting the physical and chemical properties of the product and having the texture, mouth feel, and appearance of a conventional dessert product.

The core of the present invention is to provide products with no added sugar. We have surprisingly found that the substitution of sugar by using other types of sweeteners, like a special mix of sweeteners, such as polyols preferably xylitol, maltitol and sorbitol in combination with intensive sweeteners, such as sucralose, optionally in combination with fibres, such as wheat dextrin as bulking agent, provided a liquid- or semi-liquid dessert product with a low glycemic index and effective response in the human body.

The liquid or semi-liquid dessert product of the present invention comprises a special mixture of sweeteners, thickeners and/or fibres for the preparation of dessert products with respect to healthy nutritional habits. Additional it is possible to use an intensive sweetener preferably sucralose in combination with polyols. Other intensive sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharine, acesulfame K can also be used.

Sugars besides having sweet taste are also functioning as bulking agents in foodstuff. Thus, the replacement of sugar with other sweeteners influences the texture of the final product. According to the present invention, we have found that the additional use of other bulking agents, preferably wheat dextrins, improves the texture and mouth feel of the final dessert product.

Polyols, such as xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol, lactitol, are used in the present invention to substitute sugars and give a sweet taste similar to sugars with the benefit of being tooth friendly.

It is known that sugars provide 4kcal /100g while polyols provide 2,4kcal / lOOg due to their incomplete absorption and metabolism. Therefore, the replacement of sugars by polyols according to the present invention leads to low calorie products. Moreover, any other type of polyol such as isomalt, lactitol, and erythritol may also be used.

Furthermore, the addition of wheat dextrins increases the amount of dietary fibre in the final product that in combination with the sweetener mix contributes to a lower glycemic index. In order to achieve the desired texture, stabilizers preferably xanthan gum and gelatin can be used. Besides xanthan gum and gelatin, other types of stabilizers such as guar gum, carrageenan, agar, can be used.

Fibres have a high-standing position in the human nutrition. They are classified into soluble and insoluble fibres. Soluble fibres are metabolised by the human body while insoluble fibres are not metabolised. Furthermore, the consumption of fibres in a diet contributes to a quicker feeling of fullness and thus reduction in food intake, while at the same time aids the absorption of minerals and micronutrients for the maintenance of good health. In the present invention, wheat dextrins are preferably used as a source of fibres further to a bulking agent. However, other type of fibres may also be used such as inulin and / or oligosacharides. The liquid or semi-liquid dessert product of the present invention may comprise a stabilizer component, thickeners/gelling agents. Some gums are useful as thickeners/gelling agents. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these thickeners/gelling agents impart viscosity to the emulsion and may also help to stabilize the liquid emulsion. These gums could be natural such as plant gums or animal gums. Useful thickeners/gelling agents for this invention are gelatins, pectins, alginates, agars, carrageenans, locust beans, guars, xanthans, gellans and konjac gums, preferably alginate, pectins, xanthans and guars. The amount of these gums can be varied widely in accordance with the amounts known in prior art compositions, generally from 0 to 2%, preferably 0.02 to 2% or from 0.05-0.5%. In addition, in the preferred embodiment, at least one edible acid is added to the dessert product to adjust the pH of the product from about 3 to about 6, depending on the nature of the final product. This pH control adds flavour and/or reduces the acid bite of the product. Preferred edible acids are selected from the group consisting of citric acid, fumaric acid, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the dessert product can also include at least one additive. The additive may be selected from the group consisting of colorants, herbs, spices, proteins, vegetables, flavourings, preservatives, flavour enhancers, and combinations thereof. The additives can be included in an amount of up to about 2% by weight based on the weight of the product. The total water range in the chocolate syrup of the present invention is from about 5% to 25% by weight, the weight ratio of sweeteners is from about 50% to 60% by weight, the weight ratio of wheat dextrins from 5 % to about 18% by weight, weight ratio of modified starch from about 0.5% to 7% by weight and weight ratio of cocoa powder from about 5% to 15% by weight. The fruit syrup of the present invention has weight ratio of sweeteners mix from about less than 50% by weight, weight ratio of water from about 25% to 50% by weight, weight ratio of fruit pulp from about 10% to 25% by weight, weight ratio of modified starch from about 0.5% to 5% by weight and weight ratio of wheat dextrins from about 5% to 18% by weight. The jam of the present invention has weight ratio of sweeteners mix from about less than 70% by weight, weight ratio of water from about 5% to 20% by weight, weight ratio of fruit or fruit pulp from about 20% to 50% by weight.

The fruit topping of the present invention has weight ratio of sweeteners mix from about 20% to 40% by weight, weight ratio of water from about 30% to 50% by weight, weight ratio of fruit or fruit pulp from about 10% to 30% by weight, weight ratio of modified starch from about 4% to 10% by weight. The liquid -or semi-liquid dessert products of the present invention may also contain one or more additional ingredients selected from a wide variety of food-grade materials. According to the desired properties of the liquid or semi-liquid product, any number of ingredients may be selected, alone or in combination, based upon their known uses in preparation of liquid foodstuff.

Such ingredients that are useful for the present invention include flavouring agents, colorants, vitamins, minerals, etc. Suitable flavouring agents can be employed to impart vanilla, cream, chocolate, coffee, maple, spice, mint, butter, caramel, fruit and other flavours.

Various flavours can be added to the product with the range depending upon the required flavour profile.

Such ingredients include, but are not limited to, viscosity enhancing, or thickening agents improving the texture of the product, aroma components, flavour components, texture enhancers, colour substances, taste masking substances and antioxidants.

All percentages given in the present invention are by weight.

The following examples illustrate preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention without limiting the scope or spirit of the invention:

EXAMPLES

Example 1: A low glycemic index, sugar free chocolate flavoured syrup

The chocolate syrup comprising the above ingredients is prepared according to the following manufacturing process: the total quantity of sweeteners, wheat dextrins, cocoa powder and water are added into a double wall tank boiler and brought to boil. Before the boiling point is reached, the acidity regulators and the preservative are added and subsequently the boiling is continued for approximately 3 to 7 min. The product obtained is passed through a heat exchanger and packaged in plastic bottles, sachets or any other type of container depending on the final use.

The syrup product of Example 1 has been tested and the GI is from 35 to 54. Example 2: A low glycemic index, no added sugar fruit syrup.

The fruit syrup comprising the above ingredients is prepared according to the following process: the whole quantity of sweeteners, wheat dextrins, fruit or fruit pulp and water are added into a double wall tank boiler and brought to boil. Before the boiling point is reached, the acidity regulators and the preservative are added and subsequently the boiling is continued for approximately 3 to 7 min. The product obtained is passed through a heat exchanger and packaged in plastic bottles, sachets or any other type of container depending on the final use.

The fruit syrup product of Example 2 has been tested and the GI was between from 48 to 54. Example 3 : A low glycemic index, no added sugar jam.

The jam comprising the above ingredients is prepared according to the following process: gelatin is dissolved in the whole quantity of water. Subsequently the obtained gelatin solution, the whole quantity of sweeteners, intensive sweeteners, and the fruit or fruit pulp are added in a boiler and brought to boiling. Boiling is continued for approximately 2 to 7 minutes. At the last minute of boiling the flavours, the acidity regulators and the preservative are added and subsequently the jars are filled with the jam. The jars are passed over steam and finally are closed with a lip. Alternative the product is possible to be packed in any other container depending upon desired used.

The jam of Example 3 has been tested and the GI was from 48 to 54. Example 4: A low glycemic index, no added sugar fruit topping.

The fruit topping comprising the above ingredients is prepared according to the following process: the modified starch is dispersed in the whole quantity of water. The dispersion obtained and all the remaining ingredients are added in a boiler. The mixture is stirred until temperature reaches about 70 - 90°C. After 5-7 minutes, the product is packed in the desired container depending on the final use.

The final product obtained, namely the fruit topping of Example 4 has been tested and the GI found from 35 to 54.

The present invention provides the replacement of sugars with other types of sweeteners that cause a low glycemic response in the human body. Therefore, the present invention provides new products, such as syrups, jam or marmalade, and fruit toppings/preparation with different flavours, such as vanilla and chocolate, based on a special mix of sweeteners, thickeners, and/or fibres for the preparation of dessert products with respect to healthy nutritional habits. In addition, the bulking agents, such as wheat dextrins comprised in the liquid - or semi liquid dessert products of the present invention increase the intake of dietary fibres and the human body takes advantage of all the benefits provided by fibres.

The final products of the present invention are characterised by a low content of sugars, a low glycemic index and by the presence of fibres. They can be prepared industrially, and be sold as ready to consume products or as mixtures for homemade preparation of dessert products according to the methods described in the present invention.

All the products of the present invention have been used in clinical trials carried out in collaboration with Greek hospitals. The subjects of the trials were overweight-obese children and adults. All the subjects followed for 3 months a low calorie value diet, which included the consumption of the above mentioned products 4 times/week. The results showed that dietary treatment including no added sugar products with a low GI according to the present invention helped overweight-obese children and adults to: a) adapt a balanced diet b) loss weight c) improve insulin resistance d) achieve a better glycemic control.

In addition, clinical trials for GI measuring of the final products of the present invention have been carried out and proved that the final products are low GI.

All the dessert products of the present invention can be prepared industrially according to the method for the preparation described therein and said products can be as ready to consume commercially products.

Furthermore, the dessert products of the present invention may be prepared industrially and sold as part of a dessert kit in combination with other sugar-free or no added sugar confectioneries. While the present invention has been described with respect to the particular embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.