ABSTRACT
Sugar alcohols, also known as polyols, polyalcohols, or polyhydric alcohols, are naturally present in many fruits and vegetables, contributing to the sweetness, and are a hydrogenated form of carbohydrates of which the carbonyl group (aldehyde or ketone, reducing sugar) has been reduced to a primary or secondary hydroxyl group (Wang 2003). Sugar alcohols have the general formula of H(HCHO)n+1H, whereas sugars have the general formula of H(HCHO)nHCO. The de™ning characteristic is the occurrence of an alcohol group (>CH-OH) in place of the carbonyl group (>C=O) in the aldose and ketose moieties of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides; hence, polyols are not sugars and generally carry the suf™x “-itol” in place of the suf™x “-ose” according to modern carbohydrate nomenclature (McNaught 1996). The name “polyol” is
CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 45 3.2 Importance of Sugar Alcohols for Food Industry and Human Health ...................................46 3.3 Monosaccharide Polyols ......................................................................................................... 51
3.3.1 Erythritol .................................................................................................................... 51 3.3.2 Xylitol.......................................................................................................................... 53 3.3.3 Sorbitol ........................................................................................................................ 56 3.3.4 Mannitol ...................................................................................................................... 59 3.3.5 d-Tagatose ................................................................................................................... 61
3.4 Disaccharide Polyols ............................................................................................................... 62 3.4.1 Maltitol........................................................................................................................ 62 3.4.2 Isomalt ........................................................................................................................64 3.4.3 Lactitol ........................................................................................................................65 3.4.4 Trehalose .....................................................................................................................68
