Characterization and categorization of commercial confectionary gels through napping-ultra flash profile (UFP) and hierarchical clustering analysis.

The use of high-solid gels (HSGs) in the confectionary and dietary supplement industries is rapidly expanding, increasing the interest in studying the relationships across their composition, sensory characteristics, thermal behavior, and texture. Thus, the objectives of this study were to characterize HSG product categories based on sensory characteristics and analytical parameters, and correlate analytical parameters with sensory descriptors generated through napping-ultra flash profile (napping-UFP). In one 90-min session, 15 panelists performed two napping-UFP exercises, categorizing and describing 13 confectionary HSGs by their overall degree of similarity and by their texture.