Chemical name: 1, 2,3,4,5-pentanol.
Molecular formula: C5H 12O5
Molecular weight: 152.438+05
Properties: Xylitol is a new natural sweetener extracted from corncob, bagasse and other substances. Its sweetness is equivalent to sucrose. Appearance is white crystal or crystalline powder, easily soluble in water, slightly soluble in ethanol and methanol, melting point 92 ~ 96℃, boiling point 265,438 06℃. The entrance has a strong coolness.
Xylitol is a normal intermediate of carbohydrate metabolism in human body, and it also exists widely in nature, especially in vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and other plants. In the absence of insulin in human body, xylitol can be absorbed and utilized by tissues through cell membrane, and can promote the synthesis of hepatic glycogen and improve liver function, which is an ideal drug for patients with diabetes and hepatitis complications. At the same time, it is not used by microorganisms that produce dental caries in the oral cavity, which can effectively improve the PH value of the oral cavity and prevent teeth from being corroded by acid, thus playing a role in preventing dental caries; Since its application in food production in 1960s, it has been widely used in food, medicine, light industry and other fields.
In addition, because xylitol is a sugar-free and low-calorie sweetener, it is widely used as a special food for diabetic patients abroad, or as a substitute for white sugar in various diet foods, as well as buccal tablets, chewable tablets, syrup and other drugs. Recently, foreign medical researchers found that xylitol is not only a sweetener, but also an excellent adjuvant therapy, which can be used to prevent patients from lung infection and other diseases.
Medical researchers at Iowa State University in the United States unexpectedly found that patients with fibrocysts who often eat xylitol sweeteners have never suffered from lung infection, while people who don't like sweets (of course, they don't eat xylitol) have all experienced lung bacterial infection. This strange phenomenon has aroused great interest of researchers. So, does xylitol in food and beverage really have the pharmacological effect of preventing pulmonary bacterial infection? Researchers have conducted in-depth research for this.
In vitro experiments confirmed that xylitol itself had no antibacterial effect. But interestingly, once the patient takes orally the preparation or food containing xylitol, it quickly shows the effect of preventing bacterial infection in the lung and respiratory tract.
Medical researchers believe that the human lung mucosa and respiratory tract are covered with a thin layer of mucus, which contains "endogenous antibacterial substances", which is a natural barrier for the human body to resist the invasion of harmful microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) in the air. If the salinity of this mucus on the respiratory tract-lung mucosa increases, harmful microorganisms in the air will "sneak in" and multiply on the surface of the lung-respiratory tract, eventually causing lung infection.
The results of sampling the respiratory tract-lung mucosa of fibrocyst patients confirmed that the mucus salinity of these patients was indeed more than twice that of normal people. Strangely, as long as they are allowed to eat some food or drink containing xylitol, the salinity of the mucus they breathe will soon return to normal levels. This shows that although xylitol is not an antibacterial substance, it can reduce the salt in the mucus layer on the surface of patients' respiratory tract, so it is beneficial for patients to restore their ability to prevent lung infection. Last year, the double-blind randomized experiment of "xylitol to prevent lung infection" conducted by American clinical medical researchers on 2/kloc-0 patients with fibrocyst confirmed the above conclusion.
Now, xylitol is expected to be developed into a new raw material of health food, which can prevent lung infection of susceptible people such as the elderly, the infirm, infants and patients.