ERYTHRITOL, A NEW RAW-MATERIAL FOR FOOD AND NONFOOD APPLICATIONS

In response to an increasing demand from consumers for healthier and c alorie controlled foods, Cerestar has developed a new food ingredient, erythritol. Erythritol can be produced from starch by a full biotechn ological process, combining enzymatic and fermentative conversions. Th e use of an osmophilic yeast allows the fermentation step to be perfor med at high dry substance, giving an economic advantage. An extremely pure end product is then easily obtained by final crystallisation. Ery thritol is structurally a polyol and shares the health properties of o ther polyols such as being toothfriendly and safe for diabetics. Howev er, it offers in addition two very important nutritional advantages: a lower calorific value (0.3 Kcal/g) and a good tolerance. This is due to its low molecular weight, which allows erythritol to be rapidly abs orbed from the small intestine, with subsequent excretion in the urine . Fermentation in the colon is therefore excluded and any resulting ga stro-intestinaI discomfort avoided. The combination of these propertie s makes erythritol a unique low calorie bulk sweetener. From a functio nality point of view, erythritol is a moderately sweet bulking agent w ith a cooling taste; workability is similar to other polyols. It has a taste profile close to that of sucrose and may therefore improve the taste quality of a blend with intense sweeteners. Its low solubility a nd ease of crystallisation, make erythritol very suitable for applicat ions which require a crystalline sweetener, such as chocolate. Other p otential application areas are bakery, table-top and confectionery. Pr esently erythritol is under evaluation to establish beyond any doubt i ts safety and to obtain food approval as a new, low calorie, bulk swee tener. Potential non-food applications of erythritol are in polymers, fine chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates.