Generally, the rheological properties of a dough are greatly affected by flour composition, processing parameters and ingredients. As the CTD studied in this research were produced starting from the same flour and adopting the same processing parameters
(as well as the same resting time before testing), it can be assumed that the interesting differences observed in their mechanical and rheological properties could be mainly ascribed to the differences in formulation, basically determined by the type of sugar replacer adopted. In particular, sugar-free doughs were more solid and elastic, with a higher resistance to tensile forces, while the presence of bulk sugars determined a softer and more viscous texture. The use of alternative sweeteners, especially high-intensity sweeteners, has to face with the technological challenge of a complete substitution of sucrose properties: sweetening, bulking, binding, texturing, fermenting etc. This is the reason why other ingredients (e.g. bulking agents) should be added to low-sugar baked goods to compensate sucrose functionalities complementary to sweetening.