Food Technology: Hosokawa Alpine Sugarplex SX makes Sugar Shelf-Stable through Conditioning

Updated on : 06/23/2021 - Production of shelf-stable icing sugar – in one step

Hosokawa Alpine presents a new solution for the industrial conditioning of sugar: the Sugarplex SX. The tendency of freshly ground, amorphous icing sugar to absorb moisture in conventional grinding systems can lead to the formation of lumps during storage. Therefore, an additional process step is made necessary during downstream processing. Thanks to the new integrated sugar conditioning unit, the improved Sugarplex SX is perfectly equipped to prevent this: "The targeted regulation of the atmosphere inside the mill serves to shorten the recrystallisation time and completely recrystallised icing sugar is then discharged from the mill. This saves the downstream process steps which have been necessary up to now", explains Dr Ergün Altin, Senior R&D Manager at Hosokawa Alpine.

Control of the ambient atmosphere permits sugar conditioning

With the integrated sugar conditioning process, a conditioned ambient atmosphere is created during the grinding process inside the Sugarplex SX mill, whereby the defined moisture content of the air favours the recrystallisation of the freshly ground icing sugar. This serves to stabilise the crystal already in the mill and thus to prevent the premature, spontaneous clumping together during storage which may occur with conventional grinding systems. In conventional production processes, additives such as starch or phosphate are added in order to bind the moisture with the sugar and thus prevent such blockages. With the Sugarplex SX, this is unnecessary, as is the additional process step in which the sugar needs to be finely re-ground after storage.

As a result of the new process developed by Hosokawa Alpine, the benefits for our customers are clear: continuous operation of the system without an additional conditioning step leads to high efficiency. Elimination of the mixing bin saves space and reduces costs. And the end product is high in quality, has a high storage stability and is free from additives.

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