Sucrose release from agar gels: Correlation with sucrose content and rheology

The effect of sucrose and agar concentrations on sucrose release from agar gels was investigated. It was found that the sucrose release ratio decreased with increasing sucrose concentration and with increasing fracture stress, which is consistent with previous findings. High correlation was found between the fracture stress, sucrose concentration and the sucrose release ratio. The total amount of sucrose released showed a maximum at a certain sucrose concentration, indicating that sucrose addition to enhance sweetness intensity may be ineffective or even counterproductive beyond a certain limit.