Sweeteners: Nutritive
Pages 1-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/0913250953.001
ISBN: 0-913250-95-3
Abstract
Topics Covered
- Terminology
- Reactions of Carbohydrate-Based Sweeteners
- Hydrolysis and Inversion
- Isomerization
- Reduction
- Oxidation
- Thermal Degradation
Introduction to Chapter
Carbohydrates, or “hydrates of carbon,” are an important group of naturally occurring organic compounds. The term describes those molecules composed of the general formula Cx(H2O)y. Saccharides, the simplest forms of carbohydrates, consist of single sugar units with five or six carbon atoms in ring form. They are commonly called “sugars” or “sweeteners” because they taste sweet. Monosaccharides consist of one saccharide unit; disaccharides, two units; trisaccharides, three units; and polysaccharides, many units. Oligosaccharides are saccharides with more than three but less than eight units.
The mono-, di-, and trisaccharides are water soluble and have varying degrees of sweetness. Glucose, fructose, and galactose are monosaccharides. Familiar disaccharides include sucrose (made up of glucose and fructose), lactose (glucose and galactose), and maltose (two glucose units). These are described in more detail in Appendix A.
Common polysaccharides found in nature include cellulose, starch, glycogen, hemicellulose, agar, pectin, and lignin. Under ordinary conditions, they are tasteless and insoluble in water. Through enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis, polysaccharides such as starch can be broken down into their component parts (Fig. 1-1). Today, these practices are utilized in the manufacturing of sugars and syrups, which are covered later.
