DIETARY FIBERS: STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, APPLICATION IN SOFT DRINK TECHNOLOGY
Authors:   Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine, Kosiv Ruslana 
Published: December 2023

The rapid growth of the market of functional food products, and at the same time the growth in popularity and expansion of the assortment of food additives of a polysaccharide nature, is accompanied by the emergence of difficulties associated with the necessary selection of such additives to solve specific technological tasks.The purpose of the work is to generalize the data of modern scientific literature on the technological aspects of the use of dietary fibers in the production of soft drinks. The work pays attention to soluble dietary fibers, as their use in the technology of soft drinks is effective.Dietary fibers as functional ingredients perform the role of sorbents, bind and remove toxic substances, radionuclides, heavy metals from the body, have the properties of prebiotics, which stimulate the growth and/or increase the biological activity of beneficial microflora, help reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood and/or glucose.Dietary fibers are polymers of carbohydrates with a degree of polymerization of at least three, which are not digested and not absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract of the human body. The molecules of these polysaccharides differ among themselves in the composition of monosaccharide residues, the degree of polymerization, the presence of various functional groups, structure, molecular weight, which determines the diversity of their physicochemical properties. Soluble dietary fibers are modified celluloses, pectins, inulin, gums.The review compares the main physicochemical properties of various soluble dietary fibers, namely: solubility in cold and hot water, resistance of solutions to heat and pH changes, viscosity of solutions, ability to stabilize emulsions, conditions required for gel formation, thermal reversibility of gels. The areas of application in non-alcoholic beverage technologies of modified celluloses, pectins, inulin, gums from tree bark, from tree seeds, from algae and obtained by biochemical method with the help of microorganisms are considered.Based on the analysis of physico-chemical and technological properties of dietary fibers, practical experience of their use, objects for their application and dosage volumes of these additives in the production of non-alcoholic beverages are proposed to solve specific technological tasks: providing beverages with a functional direction (enrichment with dietary fibers, preparation of low-calorie beverages with reduced sugar content), cloudiness of drinks, stabilization of emulsions, stabilization of foam, stabilization of consistency, reduction of tastes, in particular sour and salty.When choosing soluble dietary fibers for the effective solution of technological tasks in the technology of soft drinks, it is necessary to take into account the need to ensure with their help the appropriate rheological properties of the drink due to increased viscosity or gelation; dosage of the additive in the amount that ensures the achievement of the desired result, usually the rate of application of these additives does not exceed 0.1%; method of application (individually or in the form of complexes); probable interaction of the additive with substances present in the drink; influence of technological parameters (temperature, pH, duration of the process); influence of the storage conditions of the finished drink. Recommendations for the development of non-alcoholic beverages with dietary fibers, in particular functional ones, are proposed.