Structure-related functional changes taking place in the lactose-maltodextrin system – the impact of maltodextrin and hydration

Following our successful experimental campaign on the glass transition in rice pasta, we propose to employ the incident neutron energy-dependent transmission and high-resolution neutron diffraction on Vesuvio to investigate the structural changes related to the glass transition and crystallisation in the lactose-maltodextrin system. The glass transition, anticipated at ca. 40 - 60C, should manifest itself as a systematic change in the sample scattering power defined by the asymptotic sample transmission correlated with a concomitant change in the level of the incoherent background visible in the sample powder diffraction pattern. The crystallisation expected from our pre-existing DSC measurements at ca. 120C should be visible in the diffraction patterns as Bragg peaks and, in the sample transmission, as Bragg edges.