Effect of sugar substitutes on moisture sorption characteristics of laddu, an Indian traditional sweet

The sorption isotherms of laddu (Indian traditional sweet preparation) prepared with sugar and with sugar substitutes like sorbitol, mixtures of sorbitol and mannitol were determined. The sorption curves of laddu prepared using sorbitol and mixture of sorbitol and mannitol along with intense sweetener were farthest from that of sugar and shifted towards the left. Various mathematical models were used to study the fitness of sorption isotherm curves of laddu. The GAB model, which covers a wide range of aw, was found to be the best fit with high R2 values and low root mean square error (RMSE) values for all the samples. The Oswin and Caurie models, which also cover a wide range of aw showed good fit for laddu prepared without sugar but a poor fit for laddu prepared with sugar.