Caramelization Processes in Sugar Glasses and Sugar Polycrystals

Abstract

We studied the chemical dehydration processes due to the caramelization in sugar glasses and sugar polycrystals. The dehydration processes of three monosaccharide sugars (fructose, galactose, and glucose) and three disaccharide sugars (sucrose, maltose, and trehalose) were compared by using a thermogravimetic-differential thermal analyzer to measure the mass reduction. The amounts of mass reductions in sugar glasses were larger than those in sugar polycrystals. However, the amount of mass reduction in trehalose glasses was smaller than that in trehalose polycrystals. This unique dehydration property of trehalose glasses may be related to the high glass transition temperature, which might be related to a superior bioprotection ability of trehalose.