What is crystallized fructose?

While more and more food and beverage ingredient lists appear the words crystallized fructose, consumers still know little about crystallized fructose, what exactly is crystallized fructose? Why are more and more food and beverages, especially nutritional products, choosing to use crystallized fructose? In fact, you may not have imagined to understand crystallized fructose.

Crystallized fructose is not a sweetener

Unlike sweeteners commonly used in the food industry, crystalline fructose is a real “sugar”, and is known as a “new source of healthy sugar”.

Crystallized fructose, or hexanone sugar, is a naturally occurring sugar with the highest sweetness, which is 1.3-1.8 times sweeter than sucrose.

Crystalline fructose is easily soluble in water (solubility of 3.5g/mL at 20℃) and ethanol, insoluble in ether, and is an odorless white crystalline powder.

It is stable to light and heat, easy to absorb moisture. Pure fructose is colorless needle-like or trigonal crystals, so it is called crystalline fructose.

Crystalline fructose metabolism in the human body faster than glucose, easy to be absorbed by the body, and does not depend on insulin, the impact on blood glucose is very small, suitable for glucose metabolism and liver insufficiency of patients to supplement energy, and fat with food, can inhibit excessive storage of fat in the human body, but also has the ability to promote the propagation of beneficial bacteria, improve intestinal function and metabolism, promote calcium absorption, do not lead to caries and other characteristics.

Crystallized fructose can be digested and absorbed by the small intestine as sucrose and maltose, and is a source of nutrition for the human body. Diabetics, obese people, children can also be safely eaten.

Crystallized fructose is not fructose syrup

Another easy to cause misunderstanding is that many people think that crystallized fructose and fructose syrup is the same thing. The fact is that both contain fructose, but fructose syrup fructose content of only 42% or 55%, the highest 90%, other components are mainly glucose.

And crystalline fructose is fructose content of more than 95% of the crystalline solid. According to the current level of technology, the content of 98% or even 99% or more. The glucose content is only a few thousandths of the level.

Not only the fructose content is different, crystalline fructose also has its own “unique features” in the application.

Crystalline fructose to maintain molecular water of crystallization is very stable, when the crystalline fructose absorbs 6-12% water, does not release or absorb water, can inhibit food dehydration and starch aging, to maintain product softness, prolong shelf life;

Because crystalline fructose contains aldehyde group, it can have Melad reaction with amino compounds to make baked food color;

Crystalline fructose has a strong ability to lower the freezing point, so it is suitable for frozen food, and can enhance the taste;

If sold in a crystalline form, it is difficult to recrystallize once it has been dissolved in food.

This property may enable it to be used in the future in soft pastries with high moisture content;

Crystalline fructose, unlike sucrose, does not break down under acidic conditions, so the sweetness and flavor of the finished product is less likely to go off during extended storage;

The peak of flavor release of crystalline fructose occurs before glucose and sucrose, and does not obscure the release of fruity aroma, so it can better reflect the flavor of fruits;

Crystalline fructose, when used in synergy with other sugars or sweeteners, enhances the perception of sweetness and improves the sweetness of foods and beverages, while maintaining the fluffiness of baked goods and the low viscosity of beverages.

It is because of these unique features that crystalline fructose has been widely used around the world.

For example, it is used as an ingredient source in food production and processing; as the main raw material in special nutritional foods; as cooking sugar in common household cooking foods; and in the medical aspect, crystallized fructose has been listed in the pharmacopoeia of Europe and the United States, as an oral agent or injection, and especially used as a sugar substitute for diabetic patients to regulate the nutritional balance.

Crystallized fructose is not a “new species”.

Although crystallized fructose is not yet generally recognized by consumers in China, but crystallized fructose is not a “new species”. As early as the mid-1980s, the United States beverage, food and sweets industry sucrose raw materials have been completely replaced by fructose.

In 1981, the United States crystallized fructose production of only a few thousand tons, and by 1996, the United States crystallized fructose production has reached about 500,000 tons.

As of 2013, fructose industry has been established in 30 countries and regions around the world.

Due to its good processing characteristics, crystallized fructose has begun to emerge in ordinary food and beverage, and as an important new source of healthy sugar, with the deepening of consumer awareness of crystallized fructose, it is expected to make a big splash in functional foods and beverages, nutritious health food, and even food formulated for special medical purposes.