All About
Sweeteners
by D. Eric Walters, Ph.D.
by D. Eric Walters, Ph.D.
Artice of the week:
Glucose
Other names:
D-Glucose
Dextrose
Grape sugar
Taste:
Glucose has a clean sweet taste. It is about 70% as sweet as sucrose on a weight basis. The concentration vs. response relationship in water is shown below (results in food systems will vary). This graph is based on data from DuBois, Walters, Schiffman, Warwick, Booth, Pecore, Gibes, Carr & Brands in "Sweeteners: Discovery, Molecular Design, and Chemoreception," D.E. Walters et al., Eds., American Chemical Society, 1991. The graph allows you to estimate sweetness response (R) for any concentration (C). The units of R are percent sucrose equivalent; the units of C are percent glucose. The data points that lie close to the x-axis represent the amount of bitterness detected; for glucose, bitterness is essentially negligible at all concentrations.
Calories:
Glucose, like all carbohydrates (sugars), provides approximately 4 calories per gram.
Safety:
Glucose is a major energy source in the human body. It is the primary energy source for brain cells. Glucose can be stored in the body as glycogen, a glucose polymer. Excess glucose can, of course, be converted to fat.
Glucose is of particular concern to diabetics, who are less able to move excess glucose out of the blood. A high blood glucose level can lead to tissue damage via non-specific glycation (attachment of glucose to proteins in a random manner).
Chemistry:
Molecular formula: C6H12O6
Molecular weight: 180.16
Glucose is a reducing sugar, having an aldehyde group on the first carbon atom. It can exist in a cyclic form or a linear (chain) form, and these forms can interconvert spontaneously in solution.
Glucose is one of the building blocks of sucrose (table sugar). One molecule of fructose is linked to one molecule of glucose to form a sucrose molecule. It is also a building block for lactose, starch, glycogen, and cellulose.
Properties:
Glucose has water solubility of about 0.5 g per mL in water at room temperature.[1]
References:
1. Alves, L.A.; Almeida e Silva, J.B.; Giulietti, M. Solubility of D-glucose in water and ethanol/water mixtures. J. Chem. Eng. Data 52:2166-2170 (2007). American Chemical Society link
Other links:
Glucose on Wikipedia
SweetenerBook.com
This site is changing daily! Most recently updated 10 June 2008. All material is © copyrighted property of Walters Associates. All rights reserved.
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