Significantly
different (P < 0.05) behaviors were observed among the
samples in terms of resistance to a compressive force, while,
unexpectedly, differences related to stickiness (the energy required
to overcome attractive forces between the dough and the surface in
contact with it) were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). SL-D, in
particular, exhibited the highest resistance to compression: its
hardness (maximum opposition to deformation) and compression
energy, in fact, were the highest among the samples; a similar
behavior (even if significantly different, P < 0.05) was noticed for
the dough formulated without any sugar. On the other hand, SC-D
and FR-D, both containing bulk sugars, showed comparable
mechanical properties, but significantly (P < 0.05) lower than SL-D
and NS-D ones. The presence of bulk sugars thus determined
a softer texture of the mass, probably due to their physic-chemical
role in relation towater and starch