Title of Invention

LOW GLYCEMIC INDIAN SWEETS AND A METHOD OF PREPARATION

Abstract

The invention relates to a process of preparing the Bengali milk made sweets like Rasagulla and Rasa Malai, comprising levulose/fructose, a natural sugar substitute in the place of natural or traditional sugar / sugar alcohol. In the present invention it is disclosed that how the traditional sugar / sugar alcohol is replaced by levulose/fructose after the preparation of the sweets of interest by the traditional way.

Full Text

The invention relates to the Indian sweets and a method of preparation of the sweets. This invention further relates to a method of preparation of Bengali sweets and the sweets prepared by the present process. This invention more particularly relates to RasaguUa, Rasa Malai and other similar Bengali sweets in which the traditional sugar is replaced by a natural sweetener especially by levulose or fructose, thus enabling the sugar patients to consume the sweets without sacrificing the desire of consuming sweets. The present invention, in fact, is a continuation of our invention disclosed in our Indian patent application numbered as 126/MAS/2003 which was accepted. In the earlier application the method of preparing the sweets using levulose instead of sugar, care being taken on non-browning of either sweetmeats or levulose syrup was disclosed. In the present application the sweets are traditionally prepared with conventional sugar/ sugar alcohol followed by replacement of the sugar/sugar alcohol by levulose/fructose a natural sweetener. Popular sweets of Asian continent such as Rasagulla and Rasamalai and other similar sweetmeats have conventionally prepared using sugar in solution in which the panner balls, "Cottage Cheese Balls" are cooked at elevated temperature. Attempts have been made to use artificial sweetener such as Aspatame but because of the fact that Aspartame decomposes when cooked at elevated temperature and because of its bitter after taste no success has been established in this regard. Several attempts have been made with natural sugar substitutes such as levulose but they have suffered from problems of undesirable browning due to caramelization and browning due I to maillard reaction when heated at elevated temperatures. Use of other sugar alcohols such as sorbitol have not been successful in view of their laxative properties and low levels of sweetness. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Therefore the primary object of the invention is to prepare the sweets like Rasagulla ,Rasa Malai and other similar Bengali sweets wherein the sweets are cooked in the traditional way using conventional sugar (sucrose) or Sugar Alcohol such as Sorbitol and then the sugar (sucrose) or sugar alcohol sorbitol contained in the paneer balls so cooked is replaced by Levulose/Fructose preferably totally, in a single step or more., due to water activity of Levulose , in solution, a product of low glycemic index, thus in the end making Rasagolla or Rasamalai or other Bengali sweets in Levulose/Fructose, suitable for diabetics. The other object of the invention is to prepare the famous Bengali sweets like Rasagulla, Rasa Malai etc., wherein sugar (sucrose) a product of High Glycemic Index (GI 65) or sugar alcohols (products having laxative properties are replaced after cooking by Levulose/Fructose, a product of low Glycemic Indiex (Gl 23). The other object of the invention is to provide the Indian sweets, particularly Bengali sweets, more particularly Rasagulla and Rasa Malai for the consumption by the diabetic patients. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of Indian sweets, particularly Rasagulla , Rasa Malai and other milk made sweets wherein the panner balls are cooked in sugar / sugar alcohol such as sorbitol but the sugar / sugar alcohol is replaced, preferably, entirely by levulose/fructose thereby ensuring that the negative properties of sugar, namely High Glycemic Index or the negative laxative properties of sugar alcohol are not present in the final Rasagulla, Rasa Malai and other sweetmeat preparations. STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION Accordingly the present invention relates to a process for the preparation of Indian sweets, particularly Bengali sweets, more particularly Bengali milk made sweets prepared using traditional sugar / sugar alcohol for sweetness characterized in that the said sweets are subjected to replacement of the traditional sugar / sugar alcohol with a natural sugar substitute such as levulose/fructose by the process as herein described at a desired water activity level. Accordingly the present invention also relates to Bengali milk made sweets such as Rasagulla and Rasa Malai prepared by the process of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In general, the manufacturing process of the sweets, as per the present invention especially Bengali milk made sweets comprising the steps of; a) Preparation of Paneer Dough by curdling boiled milk in the conventional way b) Making them into individual balls of desired size c) Heating sugar / sugar alcohol in water and allowing to boil for the required time d) Infroducing the paneer balls in sugar /sugar alcohol and cooking the same at high temperature, until the paneer balls are well cooked e) Preparing levulose/ fructose syrup under inert gas blanket to stop the caramelization and maillard reaction theryby avoiding the browning of the syrup as disclosed in our earlier patent application. f) Removing the panner balls from sugar / sugar alcohol solution, optionally squeezing gently without affecting the shape of the balls, optionally atleast one time introducing the panner balls in warm water and finally introducing the panner balls in the levulose syrup, optionally subjected to mild heating, care being taken that browning does not take place, repeating the process if necessary, thereby replacing almost entirely the natural sugar/ sugar alcohol with the levulose/fructose, a natural sugar substitute of low glycemic index at a given water activity and temperature levels, g) Storing the sweets in levulose/fructose syrup of a desired consistency and sweetness. Water Activity is usually defined under static conditions of equilibrium. Under such conditions, the partial pressure of water vapour (p) at the surface of the product is equal to the partial pressure of water vapour in the immediate environment of the product.The driving force between the internal and external water activity produces water flow which is known as "osmotic dehydration". There is also solute diffusion in and out resulting in a reduction of water activity to a level sufficient to prevent osmotic dehydration. Water Activity is temperature dependent. Temperature changes water activity due to changes in water binding, dissociation of water, solubility of solutes in water, or the state of the matrix. Although solubility of solutes can be a controlling factor, control is usually from the state of the matrix. Since the state of the matrix is dependent on temperature, one should not be surprised that temperature affects the water activity of the food. The effect of temperature on the water activity of a food is product specific. Some products increase water activity with increasing temperature, others decrease water activity with increasing temperature , while most high moisture foods have negligible change with temperature. One can therefore not predict even the direction of the change of water activity with temperature, since it depends on how temperature affects the factors that control water activity. As a potential energy measurement it is a driving force for water and slow movement from regions of high water activity to regions of low water activity. Examples of this dynamic property of water activity are; moisture migration in multidomain foods, the movement of water from soil to the leaves of the plants, cell turgor pressure etc. It has been surprisingly found by the inventors of the present invention that the natural sugar / sugar alcohol present in the sweets prepared as here before explained is almost entirely replaced when the said sweets are introduced in the levulose/fructose syrup of the invention when the Water Activity is maintained inbetween 0.4 and 0.65 at a temperature ranging from 30 degree C to 90 degree C more preferably between 45 degree C to 75 degree C and most preferably at 60 degree C. In an embodiment of the invention the panner balls are cooked in any sugar / sugar alcohol like Sorbitol or Lactitol in the conventional way. The Panner balls are then removed from sugar alcohol solution and sugar alcohol liquid is gently squeezed out without affecting the shape of panner balls and introaucea mio levulose/fructose syrup, mildly heated without browning. In another embodiment of the invention the panner balls are taken out of the sugar alcohol solution such as Sorbitol or Lactitol solutions and introduced in warm water, maintaining the warmness for an approximate period of two hours, optionally repeating the step for a plurality of times to ensure the removal of sugar / sugar from the sweets, optionally dripping and squeezing without affecting the shape and put into levulose/fructose solution of desired sweetness warmed at low temperature without browning and allow to stay. It is obvious from the above embodiments and may be taken as another embodiment of the invention that the above two processes can be clubbed together. This means the squeezing the panner balls after removing from the traditional sugar syrup without affecting the shape of the balls, introducing into warm water cycles and finally introducing into levulose/fructose syrup for almost removal of traditional sugar/sugar alcohol from the sweets and replaced by a natural sugar substitute like levulose/fructose. In whatever the method or embodiment followed for the preparation of the sweets of the present invention, the replacement of traditional sugar / sugar alcohol with that of a natural sugar substitute like levulose/fructose is carried out at a water activity of 0.4 to 0.65 and at the most preferable temperature of 60 degree C. It is needless to mention that the sweets of low glycemic index are prepared according to the present invention wherein levulose/fructose is used singly or in combination with or without other nutritive and non-nutritive sweetners without the problems of browning of either the sweetmeats solid or levulose/fructose syrup. Based on the relative water activity of levulose/fructose solution and the water activity of sugar / sugar alcohol, the sugar/ sugar alcohol inside the panner balls will be replaced by levulose/fructose. In this process the water activity of the levulose will ensure that levulose/fructose is sucked in and sugar/sugar alcohol will be pushed out. After a period of time say about 2 hours, the panner balls are removed from the levulose/fructose syrup and put into another container having levulose/fructose solution of the desired sweetness and allow to stay till the sweets achieves the desired sweetness. Thus the sweets of the present invention can be made available for ready consumption. The following examples are hereby given as a reference which confirms the exchange of a natural conventional sugar by a natural sugar substitute,say for example levulose. In the following examples the basis of confirmation is the measurements of specific optical rotation, the value of which is unique to the type of sugar. For the measurement purpose the liquid present inside the panner ball is carefully squeezed out and taken for tests. The specific optical rotation for the traditional sugar/sugar alcohol such as Sorbitol or Lactital as obtained varies from -5.15 to -5.30 degree and the value for levulose varies from -96.25 to -96.5 degree. It can also be seen that the weight of the panner balls are almost constant before and after the exchage of sugars which ensures that almost 100 percent of replacement has taken place. In the following examples the water activity is maintained between 0.4 to 0.65 and the temperature is maintained around 60 degree C EXAMPLE 1 {1) Average Weight of a panner ball : 14g (2) Average Weight of a panner ball after boiling in 200g of Lactitol in 1000 ml (Drip Dried) : 22g (3) Specific Optical Rotation of the squeezed solution from the above panner ball (step 2) : -5.15 degree (4) Average weight of a panner ball after boiling in 800g of Levulose in 1000 ml of water for 24 hrs (Drip Dried) : 23.2g (5) Specific Optical Rotation of the squeezed solution from the above panner ball : -96.5 degree EXAMPLE 2 (1) Average Weight of a panner ball : 14g (2) Average Weight of a panner ball after boiling in 800g of Lactitol in 1000 ml (Drip Dried) : 23.3g (3) Specific Optical Rotation of the squeezed solution from the above panner ball (step 2) : -5.20 degree (4) Average weight of a panner ball after boiling in 800g of Levulose in 1000 ml of water for 24 hrs (Drip Dried) : 23.2g (5) Specific Optical Rotation of the squeezed solution from the above panner ball : -96.25 degree EXAMPLE 3 Similar experiment was done replacing sugar (sucrose) with levulose. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE The following standared solutions are preparared seperately and the Specific Optical Rotation (SOR) values are measured independently. The results found thus: (l)SOR of Lactitol 200g in l000ml water : -5.25 degree (2)SOR of Lactitol 800g in l000ml water : -5.30 degree (3) SOR of Levulose 800g in 1000 ml water: -96.50 degree (4) SOR of Sucrose (sugar) 800g in 1000 ml water: +66 degree The above SOR readings of example 1 & example 2 when compared with standards (comparative example) prove that due to water activity of Levulose all the absorbed and adsorbed Lactitol is replaced by concentrated Levulose solution. Degree of replacement of Lactitol by Levulose is 100% in the example 1 and 99.74% in the example 2. The above description and examples given however does not limit the scope of the invention and it is should be construed that the changes that are obvious to the persons skilled in the art are well within the scope of the present invention. WE CLAIM 1) A process for the preparation of Indian sweets, particularly Bengali sweets, more particularly Bengali milk made sweets prepared using traditional sugar / sugar alcohol for sweetness characterized in that the said sweets are subjected to replacement of the traditional sugar/sugar alcohol preferably up to 100% with a natural sugar substitute such as levulose/fructose, at a desired water activity level care being taken that the caramelization and maillard reactions does not take place during the preparation by the process as herein described. 2) The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said process comprising the steps of: a) Preparation of Paneer Dough by curdling boiled milk in the conventional way b) Making them into individual balls of desired size c) Heating sugar/sugar alcohol in water and allowing to boil for the required time d) Introducing the paneer balls in sugar / sugar alcohol and cooking the same at high temperature, until the paneer balls are well cooked e) Preparing levulose/fructose syrup preferably under inert gas blanket to stop the caramelization and maillard reaction theryby avoiding the browning of the syrup f) Removing the panner balls from sugar solution, optionally squeezed gently without affecting the shape of the balls, optionally atleast one time introducing the panner balls in warm water and finally introducing the panner balls in the levulose/fructose syrup, optionally subjecting to mild heating, care being taken that browning does not take place, repeating the process if necessary, thereby replacing almost entirely the natural sugar with the levulose/fructose, a natural sugar substitute at a given water activity and temperature levels, g) Storing the sweets in levulose/fructose syrup of a desired consistency and sweetness. 3) The process as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the paneer balls are taken out from traditional sugar/sugar alcohol solution and immediately immersed in levulose/fructose solution having desired strength. 4) The process as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the panner balls are taken from the traditional sugar/sugar alcohol solution, drip dried or gently squeezed without affecting the shape of the panner ball and then introduced in levulose/fructose solution of the desired strength. 5) The process as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein the panner balls are taken out of the traditional sugar solution/syrup, introduced into warm water maintaining the warmness preferably for 2 hours, optionally repeating the step untill the natural sugar/sugar alcohol is driven out of the sweet and introduced in to the levulose/fructose syrup/solution of the desired strength. 6) The process as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein the panner balls are removed from the traditional sugar/sugar alcohol syrup/solution drip dried or gently squeezed without affecting the shape of the balls, introduced into warm water maintaining the warmness for 2 hours, optionally repeating this step and finally mtroducing into the levulose/fructose syrup pf the desired strength. 7) The process as claimed in any of the claims wherein the water activity is maintained at 0.4 to 0.65 8) The process as claimed in any of the claims wherein the panner balls are placed in the levulose/fructose solution/syrup for period of about 2 hours. 9) The process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the temperature is maintained ranging from 30 degree C to 90 degree C 10) The process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the temperature is maintained ranging from 45 degree C to 75 degree C 11) The process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the temperature is maintained at 60 degree C 12) The process as claimed in any of the claims wherein the paneer balls that are soaked in levulose/fructose solution are taken out and introduced in another levulose/fructose solution of desired sweetness. 13) The process as claimed in claims 1 to 12 wherein the conventional sugar/sugar alcohol replaced by levulose. 14) Any sweet prepared by the process as claimed in claims 1 to 12 15) The sweet as claimed in claim 13 is RasaguUa. 16) The sweet as claimed in claim 13 is Rasa Malai. 17) The sweet as claimed in claim 13 is any Bengali milk made sweet. 18) A process of preparation of Indian sweet, particularly Bengali milk made sweet is substantially as herein described and exemplified. 19) A sweet especially Indian Bengali sweet as prepared under claims 1 to 12 is substantially as herein described.

Documents:

1187-che-2004-abstract.pdf

1187-che-2004-claims duplicate.pdf

1187-che-2004-claims original.pdf

1187-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

1187-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

1187-che-2004-descripition complete duplicate.pdf

1187-che-2004-descripition complete original.pdf

1187-che-2004-form 1.pdf

1187-che-2004-form 3.pdf

1187-che-2004-form 9.pdf