All About Sweeteners
by D. Eric Walters, Ph.D.

Artice of the week:

Sweetener article of the week

Sorbitol

     

Other names:
Glucitol

Taste:
Sorbitol has a clean, sweet taste.  It is about 60% as sweet as sucrose on a weight basis.

Calories:
Sorbitol is only partly absorbed by the body, and its absorption is fairly slow.  Absorbed sorbitol can be converted to glucose.  Its caloric value depends on several factors, as discussed in my essay "Polyols and Calories."  In the USA, sorbitol provides 2.6 calories per gram for labeling purposes.  In the European Union, it is listed at 2.4 calories per gram.

Safety:
Sorbitol is found naturally in a number of fruits, including apples, pears, and plums.  The human body can absorb sorbitol and convert it to glucose, but it does not do so efficiently.  Unabsorbed sorbitol can cause some digestive system unhappiness, including gas, rumbling sounds (borborygmas), and diarrhea.  You can read about this in my recent essay, "Polyols--Digestive Issues."
     The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has determined the "Laxative Threshold Value" (LTV) for a number of polyols, and sorbitol is one of the more laxative polyols with an LTV of 23 grams per meal.  The FDA requires the following label statement for foods whose reasonably foreseeable consumption may result in the daily ingestion of 50 grams of sorbitol:  "Excess consumption may have a laxative effect."

Chemistry:

Molecular formula: C6H14O6

Molecular weight: 182.17

sorbitol chemical structure
     Commercially, sorbitol is usually produced by hydrogenation of glucose.

Properties:
Sorbitol behaves much like sucrose in food systems, with respect to providing bulk and interacting with other components to produce suitable texture.  It is particularly good at binding moisture (humectant activity).  
     Sorbitol and the other polyols generally do not participate in browning reactions that provide characteristic color to baked goods.

Other links:
Sorbitol on Wikipedia

SweetenerBook.com

This site is changing daily!  Most recently updated 26 June 2008.  All material is © copyrighted property of Walters Associates.  All rights reserved.

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