Food items like bakery products such as bread, cakes, biscuits, and colas, peanuts, chikki etc. are given a brownish colour by adding caramel. Caramelisation causes changes in food not only in colour but also flavor.
Caramelisation is done by melting sugar at high temperatures followed by boiling which converts sugar into glucose and fructose. Normally the temperature at which caramelisation takes place is between 110 deg.C to 180 deg.C depending on the type of sugar. Commercial caramelisation is produced by heating sugar in the presence of other ingredients which results in caramels of different colours which can be used as additives to food.
