Polyols – more than sweeteners

Abstract

Polyols – produced today at a millions of tons scale by hydrogenation or fermentation of carbohydrates from renewable raw materials – have become a valuable “natural” ingredient in a wide range of applications in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, chemical and technical industry. Beyond sweetness at low calorific value and favourable glycemic response, the intrinsic properties of polyols make them versatile and widely used bulking agents, humectants, binders, complexing agents, plasticizers and chemical reactants, whenever “green chemistry” solutions are looked for.

Physical and sensory characteristics and probiotic survival in ice cream sweetened with various polyols

“…The taste buds become less sensitive in the low temperatures which affect flavour perception of frozen desserts (Burgos et al 2016). Crystalline maltitol exhibits a similar subtle cooling effect and about the same bulk density as table sugar (Radeloff and Beck 2013). Isomalt has about half the sweetness of sucrose and a minimal cooling effect.…”

“…However, erythritol depresses the freezing point stronger than xylitol but unexpectedly gave very hard ice cream, which was too hard to scoop. According to the literature, it could be the consequence of its strong propensity to crystallise (Mullan 2013;Radeloff and Beck 2013;Haji et al 2015). When the addition of that polyol is over 8% regardless of the FPD effect, ice cream becomes too hard (Mullan 2013).…”

“…However, some recent studies suggest that frequent consumption of artificial sweeteners may also be the reason for the high risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, excessive weight gain and metabolic processes disruption (Swithers 2015; Mooradian et al 2017). Nutritive sweeteners like polyols beside providing sweetness also result in a lower blood glucose response and can be metabolised without insulin, making them suitable for diabetics (Radeloff and Beck 2013). They are not fermentable by oral bacteria so are gentle for teeth (Grembecka 2015).…”

“…). Nutritive sweeteners like polyols beside providing sweetness also result in a lower blood glucose response and can be metabolised without insulin, making them suitable for diabetics (Radeloff and Beck ). They are not fermentable by oral bacteria so are gentle for teeth (Grembecka ).…”

“…Natural origin and additional health benefits of polyols make them more accepted by society than artificial sweeteners. Therefore, they have been in use for many years in human nutrition, cosmetics, pharmacy, chemical and technical industries (Radeloff and Beck ). The calorific value of polyols is 10 kJ/g (2.4 kcal/g), except for erythritol, which is 0 kJ/g (0 kcal/g).…”