Investigation of the use of molasses (powder) instead of sugar in the production of hazelnut cream with spreadable milk and bitter cocoa

Spreadable cocoa hazelnut cream is a product group frequently consumed by consumers of all ages in our country and in the world. However, the interest of consumers is turning towards lower calorie, more nutritious or functional products every year. In this study, the use of molasses, which is rich in fiber and mineral substances, low in sugar content and also a food industry waste, is used instead of sugar in spreadable cocoa hazelnut creams. Within the scope of the thesis, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% dried powder molasses were used instead of sugar in the formulations.The parameters of the obtained samples such as color [L * (brightness), C * (chroma), hue angle], texture (spreadability), water activity, moisture content, ash content, particle size, rheological and sensory properties were examined. . In milk and bitter cocoa hazelnut creams, particle size, ash values, moisture values, firmness and stickiness values increased due to the increase in the use of powder molasses. In the examples, water activity (aw) values decreased with increasing use of powder molasses. The change in color parameters with powder molasses was found to be higher in milk samples than bitter samples. The main reason for this is that the color of bitter products is darker than that of milk products, thus ensuring low color changes. According to the analysis results, powdered molasses added milky spread cocoa hazelnut cream n and K (Pasn) values ranged between 0.626 - 0.818 and 28.700 - 10.245 Pa.sn, respectively. The n and K (Pasn) values of bitter spread cocoa hazelnut cream added with powder molasses were found to vary between 0.372 - 0.778 and 73.000 - 21.885, respectively. The use of powder molasses showed a decreasing effect on the K (Pasn) value. In our study, it was observed that the sensory parameters of the sample containing 25% molasses powder generally had higher scores compared to the control sample, and that these scores decreased with the increase of molasses and the samples containing 100% molasses powder received very low scores.