Sugar Alcohols (Polyols) - Sweeteners: Nutritional Aspects, Applications, and Production Technology - page 49

100

90

80

70

60

Sorbitol
Isomalt
Erythritol
Maltitol
Xylitol
Sucrose
Mannitol

50

40

30

20

10

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 90

Temperature ( C)

Figure 3.1 Solubility of sugar alcohols and sucrose.

1
0,99
0,98
0,97
0,96
0,95
0,94
0,93
0,92
0,91
0,9

Sucrose Sorbitol Erythritol

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Concentration (% w/w)

Figure 3.2 Impact of sweeteners on water activity ( a w ).

Consumption of calorie-reduced foods is in demand because of increased awareness of con-
sumers with reduced-calorie diet, tooth decays with sweet foods, and health concerns with regard
to being overweight and cardiovascular diseases. Regarding some important properties such as
reduced-calorie intake, sugar alcohols-polyols gain importance due to their refreshing taste and
reduced-calorie content. Generally, sugar alcohols are used instead of table sugar in food industry,
and often they are combined with high-intensity artiicial sweeteners to counter the low sweetness
(Table 3.3; McNutt and Sentko 1996; Alper et al. 2002).
The beneits of polyols can be summarized as follows:

• Polyols taste like sugar.

• Polyols have low energy value (Table 3.3). They are either metabolized and provide calories or are

not metabolized and thus are noncaloric.

• Polyols have a low cariogenicity, low glycemia, and low insulinemia value. They ferment relatively

easily in the colon. This property results from the hindrance to digestion and absorption by the