A Sugar Substitute in Pancakes

A Sugar Substitute in Pancakes Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a sugar substitute could be used in the preparation of homemade pancakes. Sugar substitutes are often used in many products. The use of sugar substitutes has become so popular because of many concerns in regards to health issues related to increased intake of sugar. In American cultures and many other parts of the world sugar is consumed in excess. This is not necessarily a bad thing because there are many healthy foods that contain sugar; although, it can become a problem for Diabetics and put some individuals at risk for cardiovascular diseases due to the increased caloric intake. The goal was to eliminate sugar in a commonly eaten breakfast food and pancakes were chose. The sugar substitute that was used was Splenda, also known as sucralose. This particular sugar replacement is 600 times sweeter than sugar and heat stable (Splenda 2007). The chemical properties and flavor of this substitute make it a good choice for this product. Splenda was incorporated into a homemade recipe for pancakes in place of sugar. It proved to stand the test and was a high-quality substitute. This experimental procedure showed that Splenda can be efficiently used as a sugar substitute in the preparation and cooking of pancakes. Introduction: The use of sugar in many foods is exponentially increasing. Human s affinity for sugar appears to be increasing. Along with this increase some health issues have also arisen. Diabetes, pancreatic cancer, and cardiovascular disease are just a few to name that can be life threatening. Therefore, sugar substitutes are a good option for some individuals who cannot consume high amounts of sugar. One of the main concerns that were considered when planning and completing this experiment was that of Diabetes. Diabetes Mellitus is a global and increasing health concern. Diabetes is the result of hyperglycemia that is difficult to manage due to insulin deficiency or a decrease in insulin sensitivity. When sugar is consumed but cannot become metabolized many adverse effects can occur like dehydration, ketoacidosis, accumulation of lactic acid, frequent urination (polyuria), and blurred vision (ADA 2007). In addition to diabetes there is also a concern for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term that includes many diseases like, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure, strokes, etc. Cardiovascular disease can refer to many different types of heart or blood vessel damage. The main culprits of CVD are unhealthy diets, lack of exercise, being overweight, and smoking (Mayo 2007). Consuming too sugar can lead to obesity and can also be

unhealthy. Therefore, sugar is a large concern for CVD as well. The overall purpose was to create a product that uses a sugar substitute that can be more readily metabolized. The independent variable in this experiment was Splenda at 5g and 10g. The control was regular granulated sugar and the dependent variables were texture and color. Methods: The overall design of this experiment was to use a homemade pancake recipe and substitute regular granulated sugar with Splenda. The replacement is a 100% replacement. Splenda at 5g is a ½ :1 substitution, while Splenda measured at 10g is a 1:1 substitution. Originally, it was planned to make the complete recipe three different times. This method was found to be time consuming. The experiment was carried out three different times by measuring the recipe in thirds. Then the appropriate sugar and Splenda were added respectively. The following recipe was used: Ingredients (recipe divided in thirds) (58g) ½ cups all-purpose flour (3g) ½ teaspoons baking powder (6g) 1 teaspoon salt (10g) 1 tablespoon white sugar (295ml) 1 1/4 cups milk 1 egg 1 egg (45ml) 3 tablespoons butter, melted This experiment was carried out precisely. The following equipment was used: large mixing bowl, measuring cups, a scale, skillet, mixing spoon, and graduated cylinder. The batter was measured and mixed. Each pancake was measured to ¼ cup and pan fried for three minutes each. With the particular sized pan that was used, only three pancakes were able to pan fry at any given time. Vegetable oil was used as a nonstick agent and 6ml was used e time new batter was to be placed in the skillet. The pancakes were prepared using a gas stove that was set on the range at 6, with 1 being the lowest setting and 10 being the highest setting. The batter was prepared three different times and the previous procedures were carried out each time. The best analysis of this particular experiment was of texture and color. It is important that when using any substitute the product is still appealing and palatable. The Texture Analyzer and the Hunter Colorimeter were used to determine the effectiveness of this experiment. s were tested by the use of a Hedonic Rating Scale and by ranking samples. Each individual placed the respective number in the corresponding boxes. The choices were the Control (708), Splenda 5g (105), and Splenda 10g (536). The second evaluation used was ranking the samples in order of preference,

where the evaluator ranked the sample using the numbers 1-3; with 1 being the most favorable and 3 being the least favorable. Hedonic Rating Scale (place number in corresponding box) moderately slightly Example Neither like nor slightly dislike moderately 708 536 105 Rank samples in order of preference. 1 being the one you like the most and 3 being the one you like the least. 105 708 536

Discussion: Many people prefer and have an attraction to foods with sugar. This can create a problem because sugar can add up and lead to surplus calories, which contribute to weight gain. In addition to weight gain, sugar can create significant health problems for diabetics. Therefore, many health professionals, nutritionist, and scientists are striving toward answers to alleviate these concerns. This project was intended to create a healthier already existing product. The first observation that is note worthy in this experiment is accuracy. It is important to have high validity and this experiment was challenging in that area. When mixing ingredients into a bowl some of the batter was lost in the bowl and in the ¼ measuring cup while portioning the batter into the skillet. Also, the thickness of the pancakes created an issue when the readings for the texture analyzer were taken. This was due to the fact that when the batter for the pancakes was poured into the skillet the batter spread into the skillet unevenly. To counteract this issue when taking measurements for the Texture Analyzer, pancakes that are being measured within the same trial need to be close to the same thickness. This helps increase the validity of the results. Even with this suggested challenge the results show consistency between trials. The general pattern of the Texture Analyzer (TA) was that the control had the highest reading, ranging from 246.0g to 546.3g. The pancakes with 5g of Splenda had significantly lower values in regards to texture. The results show that most of the values are with 100-200g for these pancakes. The pancakes that had 10g Splenda had a texture that fell in between that of the two previous. These values ranged from the high 200g range to the low 400g range (Tables 1-3). From this data, it can be concluded that the use of Splenda, a sugar replacement, has a noticeable change when used to make homemade pancakes. The pancakes manufactured with Splenda had a softer texture than the control. The results of the Hunter colorimeter were quite consistent as well. Throughout all three trials the control (708) had the darkest color. The pancakes with 5g Splenda (105) were the lightest product, while the 10g Splenda (536) pancakes came closest to the control. These results make sense considering sugar browns, while sugar substitutes may not brown as. This shows that more Splenda used the browner a product will be. It may be that if 15g of Splenda were added then the pancakes would have been as brown as the control.

Based on the Hedonic Scale the ratings showed that the control was liked the most and the 5g of Splenda the least. The 10g of Splenda fell in between these two being like moderately overall. This experiment exhibits that sugar substitutes can be used and create functional, palatable, healthy food products. The pancakes were a simple way to exhibit this idea. When using a sugar replacement it can be expected that the product will not be as brown as the control because sugar substitutes such as Splenda do not brown like regular granulated sugar. It should also be noted that when using a sugar replacement, Splenda in particular, that the pancakes will have a softer texture than that of the control. There are some areas of this project that can be improved in order to increase the validity of the experiment and the results. The most important area to improve upon is the thickness of the pancakes. The pancakes do not all have the same thickness due to the unevenness when the batter is poured into the skillet. This can affect the results of the reading from the Texture Analyzer. Results Trial 1 TA1 (g) TA2 (g) TA3 (g) Average (g) Control (708) 546.3 293.4 246.0 361.9 5g Splenda (105) 126.1 148.9 184.3 153.1 10g Splenda (536) 335.5 372.2 418.2 375.3 Texture Analyzer, Table 1 For each variable three different readings were taken from the Texture Analyzer. The average column represents the average of the three readings for each variable. The average was used to make the charts for each trial. Trial 2 TA1 (g) TA2 (g) TA3 (g) Average (g) Control (708) 575.6 476.7 451.3 501.2 5g Splenda (105) 183.1 122.0 167.1 157.4 10g Splenda (536) 222.0 381.6 184.0 262.5 Texture Analyzer, Table 2 For each variable three different readings were taken from the Texture Analyzer. The average column represents the average of the three readings for each variable. The average was used to make the charts for each trial.

Trial 3 TA1 (g) TA2 (g) TA3 (g) Average (g) Control (708) 488.3 501.7 369.1 453.0 5g Splenda (105) 127.4 199.1 201.0 175.8 10g Splenda (536) 355.2 223.4 289.3 289.3 Texture Analyzer, Table 3 For each variable three different readings were taken from the Texture Analyzer. The average column represents the average of the three readings for each variable. The average was used to make the charts for each trial. 400 350 300 Texture Analyzer 250 200 150 100 50 0 708 105 536 Texture Analyzer, Chart 1 For each sample the average is represented above for trial 1.

600 500 Texture Analyzer (g) 400 300 200 100 0 708 105 536 Texture Analyzer, Chart 2 For each sample the average is represented above for trial 2. Texture Analyzer (g) 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 708 105 536 Texture Analyzer, Chart 3 For each sample the average is represented above for trial 3.

Hunter Colorimeter, Trial 1 s/averages L a b 708 38.51 12.14 17.84 L=39.26, a=12.91, b=17.31 40.01 13.69 16.78 105 54.21 7.86 22.11 L=55.11, a=8.14, b=21.12 56.01 8.42 20.13 536 45.57 10.35 19.65 L=46.3, a=10.05, b=18.99 47.03 9.76 18.34 Trial 2 s/averages L a b 708 35.32 14.56 20.91 L=37.55, a=13.89, b=21.72 39.78 13.23 22.54 105 60.11 6.56 20.32 L=58.27, a=7.5, b=19.8 56.43 8.44 19.45 536 43.12 11.12 19.17 L=44.61, a=10.67, b=18.12 46.11 10.23 17.08 Trial 3 s/averages L a b 708 37.08 11.78 17.88 L=36.87, a=12.23, b=16.93 36.66 12.69 15.98 105 54.67 7.64 22.43 L=56.78, a=7.88, b=22.05 58.90 8.12 21.67 536 46.31 10.11 17.62 L=45.94, a=9.78, b=18.47 45.57 9.46 19.32 70 60 50 L-value 40 30 20 10 0 708 105 536 Hunter Colorimeter Chart 1, Trial 1-3

This chart represents the average L-values of the Hunter Colorimeter from trials one through three for each sample. The error bars represent the standard deviation of the averages from each sample (+/- 9.4). 18 16 14 12 A-Value 10 8 6 4 2 0 708 105 536 Hunter Colorimeter Chart 2, Trial 1-3 This chart represents the average a-values of the Hunter Colorimeter for trials one through three for each sample. The error bars represent the standard deviation for each sample (+/- 2.5). 25 20 b-value 15 10 5 0 708 105 536 Hunter Colorimeter Chart 3, Trial 1-3 This chart represents the average b-values of the Hunter Colorimeter for trials one through three for each sample. The error bar represents the standard deviation for each sample (+/- 1.3). Sensory Evaluations

Hedonic Rating Scale Moderately Slightly Neither like nor dislike Slightly moderately Control I II II IIII I (708) Totals 1 2 2 4 The control was like by most samplers as these results show here with a marking of 4 for like out of 10. Most of the other marks falling within the like category. Moderately Slightly Neither like nor dislike Slightly moderately 5g I IIIII II I I Splenda (105) Totals 1 5 2 1 1 The 5g of Splenda was found to be like the least with half of the marks being like slightly. 10g Splenda (536) Moderately Slightly Neither like nor dislike Slightly moderately II I IIII II I Totals 2 1 4 2 1 The 10g Splenda was liked moderately by the panel as seen above with 4 out of 10 marks for like moderately. Ranking s

s 1 (most preferred) 2 3 (least preferred) Control (708) 5 4 1 5g Splenda (105) 3 1 6 10g Splenda (536) 2 4 4 Again, when the panel ranked the samples it is shown here that the control was liked the most. Half of the panel rates the control as being their number one choice. The 5g Splenda was ranked as number 1 only three times and the 10g Splenda was ranked number 1 only two times. These results are somewhat inconsistent with that of the Hedonic Scale rating that showed the 10g Splenda being like more than the 5g Splenda.

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