RESUMO
The research aimed to study the effect of stevia, xylitol, and corn syrup on the physical, physicochemical, and sensory properties of velvet tamarind chewy candy (VTCC). The content of sweeteners was optimized using stevia (5.5-6%), xylitol (5.5-6%), and corn syrup (7.5-8.5%) by mixture design (d-optimal) with 3 centerpoints and response surface methodology (RSM). The sweeteners in optimized VTCC consisted of velvet tamarind powder (40.5%), water (40%), stevia (6%), xylitol (6%), and corn syrup (7.5%) which provided the approximation error between prediction and observation values: of color (a* and b*), hardness, adhesiveness, gumminess, bioactive activities, and sensory properties within the range of 0.07-9.69%. The optimized VTCC using stevia and xylitol can reduce the sugar content by up to 60%. The sensory preference scores of VTCC from consumer acceptance were slightly like (6.1-6.9) which indicated that the VTCC with stevia and xylitol can provide satisfaction in all evaluated attributes and can be applied to this concept to create fruit chewy candy using stevia and xylitol.