Isomalt, also known as palatinitol or longevity sugar, is obtained by enzymatic conversion of sucrose into isomaltulose, catalytic hydrogenation, concentration, crystallization and separation. At the end of the 20th century, Europe, America, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions began to use isomalt in large quantities in the field of food and medicineIn 2008, China approved isomalt as a new resource food.
With the wind of food sugar reduction sweeping the world, new food and beverage products with functional sugar alcohols as sugar substitutes are emerging in an endless stream, and isomalt has gradually increased its application in the food field by virtue of its own advantages such as non-hygroscopic, low calorie, low glycemic level, high tolerance and pure sweet taste, especially in the fields of candy, pastry, snacks, health care products, etc.
What are the advantages of isomalt?
1. Non-hygroscopic.
Isomalt has very low moisture absorption, at 25 when the relative humidity is 70%, there is basically no moisture absorption, and the candy and popcorn produced with isomalt are not easy to be damp and sticky.
2. High stability.
Isomalt is very stable in a high-temperature, acidic environment, and will not decompose at high temperatures, nor does it participate in the Maillard reaction, and cannot be used by most microorganisms, which can help food extend its shelf life.
3. Low glycemic and low calorie.
Isomalt has half the calories of sucrose and a glycemic index of only 2, which is not easy to cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels and plasma insulin levels, and is suitable for diabetics.
4. High tolerance.
The human body has a large tolerance to isomalt, and a daily intake of 50g will not cause gastrointestinal discomfort, so the daily intake of isomalt can be exempted from being specified after being reviewed and approved by the FAO WHO Joint Food Additives Expert Committee.
5. Pure sweetness.
Isomalt is currently considered to be a sugar alcohol that is close to the sweetness of sucrose, with a heat of dissolution of -394kj kg, which is the lowest among sugar alcohols, has no obvious coolness in the mouth, and the sweetness is more pure. It can be used in combination with other high-intensity sweeteners to mask its undesirable flavor.
6. Prebiotic effect.
Isomalt is an excellent bifidobacteria proliferative factor, which can be decomposed and utilized by bifidobacteria in the human intestine, promote the growth and reproduction of bifidobacteria, maintain the microecological balance of the intestine, and is conducive to human health.
7. Non-carigenic.
Isomalt is difficult to be broken down and utilized by oral bacteria, and it is not easy to cause tooth decay.
The application of isomalt in new products
1. Candy
Candy is the most widely used category of isomalt, including hard candies, gummies, tablet candies, and more. Its excellent physicochemical and processing characteristics can customize all kinds of candy with diverse flavors, rich colors and different shapes.
Hard candies. Isomalt has the characteristics of high temperature resistance and acid resistance, and can be boiled at high temperature without discoloration, and boiled with acid without discoloration. The non-hygroscopic properties can help simplify packaging costs, provide excellent storage stability, and extend product shelf life. In addition, it has a lower solubility than other sugar alcohols, and it will slowly dissolve in the mouth, which helps the continuous release of candy flavor, and is used to make functional candies with active ingredients such as throat lozenges, which helps to release the effect slowly and give full play to the effect. Isomalt has a low cooling sensation, which can give the candy a relatively pure sweetness and shield the odor.
Tablet candy. Isomalt has good direct compression, can carry out various molding compression, is not easy to break or deform during the production process, the edge is smooth, easy to press into the desired shape, and remains stable, during the transportation process, the collision between the tablet sugars is not easy to appear edge breakage. In addition, the finished tablet sugar produced by isomalt has extremely high brightness, and is compatible with other ingredients with the characteristics of good fluidity and high mixability.
Fudge. Isomalt gummies are viscous and chewy[1], and because they are non-hygroscopic, they can maintain a long shelf life and texture stability.
2. Roasted nuts
Among the new products in 2023, roasted nuts are also a category with more applications of isomalt. The non-hygroscopic properties can keep nuts and other moisture-prone raw materials crispy and longer shelf life, low calorie, low glycemic index, and prebiotic effect are beneficial to intestinal function and help improve the health of nut products.
3. Health food
Isomalt is added to tablet health foods, can be evenly mixed with other ingredients, easy to form, smooth and not fragile, and can adjust the production pressure to obtain products with different hardness;And effectively protect the raw ingredients, provide sweetness to the product, and reduce the odor of the active ingredients.
4. Probiotic food and beverages
Isomalt can not only provide sweetness for probiotic food and beverages, but also provide prebiotic effect to help probiotics be better absorbed and utilized by the intestine.
References. 1] He Yulian, Chen Qiang, Wei Jingqiang, et al. Effect of adding different types of sugar alcohols on the texture of pectin gel candy[J].Food Industry, 2022, 43(9):4
*: Huakang.