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Caramelization

 
Caramelization

 
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Caramelization
 
 
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Caramelization is the oxidation of sugar
Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
, a process used extensively in cooking for the resulting nutty flavor and brown color. As the process occurs, volatile chemicals are released, producing the characteristic caramel
Caramel

Caramel refers to a range of confectionerys that are beige to dark brown in color and derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is often made when cooking sweets....
 flavor.

Like the Maillard reaction
Maillard reaction

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food, and, like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning....
, caramelization is a type of non-enzymatic browning.






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Caramelisation of Carrots
Caramelization is the oxidation of sugar
Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
, a process used extensively in cooking for the resulting nutty flavor and brown color. As the process occurs, volatile chemicals are released, producing the characteristic caramel
Caramel

Caramel refers to a range of confectionerys that are beige to dark brown in color and derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is often made when cooking sweets....
 flavor.

Like the Maillard reaction
Maillard reaction

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food, and, like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning....
, caramelization is a type of non-enzymatic browning. However, unlike the Maillard reaction, caramelization is pyrolysis
Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of a condensed substance by heating. The word is coined from the Greek language-derived morphemes pyro "fire" and lysys "decomposition"....
, as opposed to reaction with amino acid
Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
s.

When caramelization involves the disaccharide sucrose
Sucrose

Sucrose is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose, with the molecular formula C12H22O11. Its systematic name is a-D-glucopyranosyl- -?-D-fructofuranoside ....
, it is broken down into the monosaccharides fructose
Fructose

Fructose is a simple Reducing sugar sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose....
 and glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
.

Process

Caramelization is a complex, poorly understood process that produces hundreds of chemicals. Here is an overview:
  1. equilibration
    Chemical equilibrium

    In a chemical process, chemical equilibrium is the state in which the Activity or concentrations of the reactants and products have no net change over time....
     of anomeric and ring forms
  2. sucrose inversion to fructose and glucose
  3. condensation
  4. intramolecular bonding
  5. isomerization of aldose
    Aldose

    An aldose is a monosaccharide containing one aldehyde group per molecule and having a chemical formula of the form Cnn....
    s to ketose
    Ketose

    A ketose is a sugar containing one ketone group per molecule.With 3 carbon atoms, dihydroxyacetone is the simplest of all ketoses and is the only one having no optical activity....
    s
  6. dehydration reaction
    Dehydration reaction

    In chemistry, a dehydration reaction is usually defined as a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule. Dehydration reactions are a subset of elimination reactions....
    s
  7. fragmentation reactions
  8. unsaturated polymer
    Polymer

    A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
     formation.


Caramelization temperatures

 Caramelization temperatures
Sugar Temperature
Fructose
Fructose

Fructose is a simple Reducing sugar sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose....
 110°C, 230°F
Galactose
Galactose

Galactose is a type of Carbohydrate which is less sweetness than glucose. It is considered a nutritive sweetener because it has food energy.Galactan is a polymer of the sugar galactose....
 160°C, 320°F
Glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
 160°C, 320°F
Sucrose
Sucrose

Sucrose is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose, with the molecular formula C12H22O11. Its systematic name is a-D-glucopyranosyl- -?-D-fructofuranoside ....
 160°C, 320°F
Maltose
Maltose

Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an a linkage. It is the second member of an important biochemical series of glucose chains....
 180°C, 356°F


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