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.