Sugar Alcohol

Introduction

Sugar Alcohol is broadly used in the food industry. It is used as the main product for making candies and sweets these days, due to sugar being proven to have harmful effects on health. These are normally extracted from sugar. Children tend to love sweet dishes more than anything, but they always have problems with health and tooth decay, which is very common in kids.

What is Sugar Alcohol?

Sugar Alcohols are made from carbohydrates, which are soluble in nature and taste sweet and get dissolved easily. It appears to be white and is a solid soluble compound. Generally, these are found in nature but these can be formed artificially as well.

Figure 1 − Sugar alcohol

Sugar Alcohol is sweet in taste and has fewer calories than regular sugar. They are used widely in the food industry. It consists of more than two hydroxyl groups. It consists of -OH groups, which are referred to as polyols.

The equation of Sugar alcohol is shown below −

$$\mathrm{HOCH_{2}(CHOH)_{n}CH_{2}OH}$$

Therefore, it has lesser hydrogen atoms than normal white sugar. Sugar alcohols are derived from Pentose or Hexose sugar, which consists of at least 6 atoms of carbon. Therefore, its structures are not cyclic.

Characteristics of Sugar Alcohol

• It tastes a little less sweet than normal sugars.

• An oral bacterium does not put any impact on the metabolism of Sugar alcohol.

• It is an easily dissolving carbohydrate, which is generally found in sweet dishes.

• Monosaccharides is the most commonly used, which consists of fructose, galactose and maltose.

• It does not have any alcohol, as the name would suggest. It consists of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon.

• They are replacing normal sugar, and other artificial sweeteners.

• It gets absorbed a lot lesser in the bloodstream than sugar.

• It gets extracted from the fresh materials in order to avoid enzymatic degradation.

• Food and beverages, which contains Sugar alcohol, it cannot be taken into an account for a diabetic diet as carbohydrate.

Uses of Sugar Alcohol

• It is used as a sweetener; which diabetic patients can also use to get the sweet taste.

• They prevent the decay of teeth, where normal sugar causes major oral problems.

• These are also used in medicines.

Health effects of Sugar Alcohol

It has great health benefits and more sugars that are preferable to ordinary. It has a high value in terms of nutrition. Peoples nowadays avoid simple sugars due to the high value in calorie count and it also has an adverse effect on health. Sugar alcohol is sweet in taste but low in caloric value. Normal sugars result in gum and tooth decay but sugar alcohol does not have such problems, because they do not get digested by oral bacteria. Its absorption rate is low in blood, so this is suitable for sugar patients.

Figure 2 − Alditols scheme

Alditols scheme, Public domain, via Wikimedia Common

Doctors in hospitals or during the medical treatment of sugar patients prefer sugar alcohol in place of ordinary sugar. There is also some adverse effect in the case of sugar alcohols as this may cause vomiting and diarrhoea, if the consumption is done inappropriately. Foods often taste sweeter than normal because food companies add preservatives like sugar alcohol combined with artificial sweetener to process the food even more sweeter. This plays a significant role in the management of sugar in blood. It results in the aid of weight management for someone who wants to lose weight.

Different Types of Sugar Alcohol

There are various types of sugar alcohol which is made up of both artificially and extracted naturally. This type of sugar is manufactured for using it in food products and in medical items.

There are many types of sugar alcohols such as −

Sorbitol

This is obtained naturally in fruits. It is made from Dextrose and this is approximately 60% sweetness in taste.

Manitol

It is obtained naturally like in strawberries and mango and contains approximate 75% sweetness when compared with ordinary sugars

Erythritol

From different materials it is extracted like sugar cane stalks is some example of this. This has a fragrance of mint and gives a cooling sensation and is more or less as sweet as regular sugar.

Isomalt

These are obtained from the natural sugars and taste the same as the ordinary sugars.

Laccitol

It is extracted from the product of whey and it has approximate 35% sweetness compared to the ordinary sugars.

Hydrogenated starch hydrolytes

This is also obtained from starch and this is also widely used. Its sweetness is very less when compared with ordinary sugars, sweetness but this depends on certain conditions.

Conclusion

Sugar alcohols is high in nutrition and considered to be an excellent source of sweetness for those who have diabetes. This has a low margin of absorption unlike ordinary sugars. Therefore, sugar alcohol provides an excellent source of texture and smoothness not compromising its quality in place of ordinary sugars. It can be extracted in a simple manner and can be organized very well. It has some taste like that of regular sugars. It does not bring any sort of bad effect on health or blood and this can be obtained naturally also.

FAQs

1. Define Sugar Alcohols?

This is a kind of preservative and can be used or extracted naturally. This is the best alternative in place of ordinary sugars and maintains a good nutritional value.

2. What is the health benefit of using this sugar?

People who are highly health conscious so one can use sugar alcohols in place of ordinary sugars. This has low in calories and maintains good health along with sourcing some good carbs.

3. Name the food items that have sugar alcohols?

Naturally, this is present in many fruits like olives, sweet potatoes, and many more. It can also be extracted from corn and from some cereals.