Edible gelatin for Soft candy, gummy candy, jelly candy

Gummy candy, soft candy or jelly candy is a common type of confectionery in everyday life. It is made from sugar, water, flavoring and edible hydrocolloid. Edible gelatin is a common gelling agent used to bind the various components in soft candy and give it a strong body. About 60% of the world's gelatin is used in the food industry, especially in soft candy.

When the mixture of gelatin, sucrose and water is cooled, the gelatin molecules are attached each other by hydrogen bonds. The irregular curled structures become a regular triple helix structures and they are connected each other to form a three-dimensional network. Water, sugar and other ingredients are confined in its meshes. The gelatin network is the support skeleton of jelly candy, making it as elastic as a rubber.It slows down the growth of sucrose crystals and prevents them from forming large crystals that can make coarse taste.

Since its melting point is lower than your body temperature, when the candy is chewed, the melted gelatin will quickly release its various flavors inside. Even without chewing, it slowly melts in your mouth, releasing the flavors of additives. It is a feature not found in other edible hydrocolloid. Carrageenan, pectin and agar are harder, less elastic and more brittle in texture; because their melting point is higher than body temperature, these candies require constant chewing to provide flavors. The starch fondant, such as Turkish delight, is soft, inelastic, and tends to stick your teeth means unpleasant mouthfeel.

Although the sweets made of edible gelatin have a strong elasticity, they are prone to melt at high temperature. It is often used with pectin and agar to increase its melting point and hardness, especially marketing in tropical areas. Gelatin contains 18 amino acids and provides nutrition to your body. This is a characteristic that other edible gels do not have. Agar, pectin and carrageenan are all indigestible polysaccharides and none of the nutrition and energy is provided. About 7% of gelatin is added and each 100 grams of soft jelly candy can provide 10% of the daily required protein.