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Amorphous Sucrose Fractions Determined by DVS Analysis

ProUmid Application Note

During the production of sucrose or its further processing in food amorphous fractions can be formed. For example, high forces during fine grinding in the production of icing sugar or the rapid solidification during spray- or freeze-drying of sucrose containing foods favors an increased amorphous content.

The hygroscopicity of amorphous components favors the adsorption of moisture from the environment and the transition to a thermodynamic stable crystal state. Due to the lower water binding capacity of the crystals the adsorbed moisture is released which may cause undesired product changes, such as caking and reduced flowability, a lower microbial- and chemical stability or modification of the product’s appearance as color changes and loss of transparency.

To estimate the stability of such products and formulations, the knowledge about the amorphous content and the recrystallization kinetics is crucial.

Application Note

The idea behind the DVS method for determining amorphous contents is to measure the sorption kinetics of powder mixtures with a known amorphous concentration. As amorphous materials show a higher affinity for moisture adsorption than crystalline, the sorption behavior can be correlated with the amorphous content. In follow, the amorphous content of unknown sample materials can be calculated with the help of the obtained calibration curve.

Additionally, the multisampling SPS sorption test systems can be used to characterize material specific crystallization conditions and kinetics dependent on temperature and relative humidity.