Mechanical properties of frozen sugar solutions

The mechanical properties of frozen materials can be difficult to study due to the enormous stiffness and moduli involved and the fact that changes can occur rapidly over small temperature ranges. The Ares rheometer (Rheometrics Corporation/TA Instrument, Delaware, USA) has a wide range of modulus measuring capability and has been used in the oscillating plate mode in studies of sugars at comparatively low moisture contents (15% —10°C) with and without hydrocolloids [141]. 

One particularly interesting approach involves the use of a circular cell containing a film of solution sandwiched between two plastic sheets and used in a conventional DMA apparatus [142, 143]). Aqueous solutions of fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose and lactose were examined. The major features on the DMA traces could be matched to the supplemented state diagram. Glass transition temperatures were determined from the peaks in the loss modulus. The 7 s for an average vibration time of 100 s, the reciprocal of the measuring frequency 

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