Maltitol is a polyol, also known as maltitol, and its chemical formula is C6H 14O6, which is a low-calorie sweetener. Maltitol is sweet, but it does not belong to the category of sugar-free food because it contains glucose and fructose. Although its sweetness can reach half of sucrose, its energy content is only about half of sucrose.

Maltitol itself is not sugar-free, so the food made of maltitol can not be counted as sugar-free food, but only as low-sugar food, not really sugar-free, but with high sweetness and low calories. Maltose is widely used as a food additive because it has advantages over other sugar substitutes. It is safe and stable, so it is popular.

Production and application of maltitol

Maltitol is a disaccharide, which is hydrogenated from maltose in starch. Maltitol syrup is a hydrolyzed product of hydrogenated starch, which is made by hydrogenation of corn syrup, which is a mixture of carbohydrates produced by starch hydrolysis. The product contains 50% to 80% maltitol by weight. Most of the rest is sorbitol, and there are some other substances related to sugar.

The high sweetness of maltitol makes it unnecessary to mix with other sweeteners. Compared with other sugar alcohols, its cooling effect can be ignored, which is very similar to the subtle cooling effect of sucrose. Used in candy manufacturing, especially sugar-free hard candy, chewing gum, chocolate, baked goods and ice cream. Maltitol is used as excipient and low calorie sweetener in pharmaceutical industry. Its similarity with sucrose enables it to be used in syrup, with the advantage that it cannot crystallize.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Maltitol.