Solid state of processed carbohydrate matrices from maltodextrin and sucrose

• Processing of maltodextrin and sucrose with water in a batch mixing process.
• Correlation of plasticization, melting, and caramelization to process conditions.
• Investigation of the formation of amorphous sucrose via a design of experiments.
• Quantification of crystalline sucrose down to <4% via X-ray powder diffraction.
• Specific mechanical energy above 300 Wh/kg led to caramelization.

Various mixtures of maltodextrin, sucrose, and water, as typical compounds of food matrices used for flavour encapsulation via extrusion, were processed in a batch mixing process. Plasticization, melting and caramelization just as the formation of amorphous sucrose were studied. All matrices were plasticized within 2 min, resulting in a loss of crystalline sucrose. Melting occurred due to water loss higher than 55%. Caramelization could be correlated to a specific mechanical energy input higher than 300 Wh/kg. The glass transition temperature of the caramelized matrices could not be fitted with the Gordon Taylor equation, based on the used compounds. Increasing sucrose content in the preblended powder mixture combined with increasing sample water content increased the crystalline fraction within the matrix. These findings enable a systematically investigation of matrices for encapsulation of flavours within the batch mixing process, which can help to transfer the flavour encapsulation to an extrusion process.