Sugar Substitutes & Sweeteners - Isomalt

Isomalt is an artificial sugar substitute, a type of sugar alcohol, which is primarily used for its sugar-like physical properties. It has only a small impact on blood sugar levels, does not promote tooth decay, and has one half the calories of sugar. However, like most sugar alcohols, it carries a very real risk of gastric distress when consumed in quantity, including flatulence and diarrhea. Isomalt is typically blended with a high intensity sweetener such as sucralose, so that the mixture has approximately the sweetness of sugar.

Isomalt is an odourless, white, crystalline substance containing about 5% water of crystallisation. Isomalt has a minimal cooling effect (negative heat of solution), unlike many other sugar alcohols, particularly xylitol and erythritol. Isomalt is unusual as it is a synthetic sugar alcohol that is produced from sugar. An interesting use of isomalt is found in the product DiabetiSweet, a sugar substitute sold for baking use and composed of a blend of isomalt and acesulfame potassium, but it has a bitter taste (due to the acesulfame potassium) and lacks the caramelizing properties of sugar.

Isomalt is manufactured in a two-stage process in which sugar is first transformed into Isomaltulose, a reducing disaccharide (6-0-_-D-glucopyranosido-D-fructose). The Isomaltulose is then hydrogenated, using a Raney metal catalytic converter. The final product – Isomalt – is an equimolar composition of 6-0-?-D-glucopyranosido-D-sorbitol (1,6-GPS) and 1-0-?-D-glucopyranosido-D-mannitol-dihydrate (1,1-GPM-dihydrate).

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