Maltitol is a kind of disaccharide alcohol obtained by hydrolysis, hydrogenation and refining of starch. Its sweetness is equivalent to 90% of sucrose, and the sweetness is mild, without aftertaste, and the taste is excellent. The caloric value is one-tenth of that of sucrose, providing 2.1 kilocalories per gram. It is a low-calorie functional sweetener. It absorbs moisture, is difficult to be fermented by microorganisms, and has many excellent physiological and functional properties. Maltitol provided by maltitol supplier has been widely used in food, chemical, health care products and cosmetics industries.

1. Functional properties of maltitol.

1.1 Low calorie performance.

The utilization rate of maltitol is low, it is difficult to be digested and metabolized in animals, and it is a low-calorie sweetener. Therefore, the possibility of converting glycogen into fat due to sugar consumption can be avoided, and the occurrence rate of human obesity can be greatly reduced.

1.2 Not causing blood sugar concentration to rise, not stimulating insulin secretion.

Maltitol will not cause blood sugar to rise after ingestion, and will not stimulate the secretion of insulin, so it is good news for diabetic patients.

1.3 Eating with fat can inhibit the excessive storage of body fat.

Maltitol does not stimulate the activity of insulin, thereby also reducing the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and activity that plays a key role in absorbing fat in the blood and storing it in animal adipose tissue. Thus maltitol combined with fat results in less fat storage than sucrose or other sweeteners combined with fat, so it has certain effects on preventing and treating obese patients.

1.4 Caries-inhibiting properties.

Experiments have shown that maltitol is not easily converted into acid by streptococci in the oral cavity, and can also inhibit the bacteria from producing glucan, thereby inhibiting the occurrence of dental caries.

1.5 Promote calcium absorption.

Maltitol improves calcium absorption and retention. Therefore, maltitol has obvious preventive and therapeutic effects on bone diseases caused by insufficient calcium intake and absorption in children and the elderly.

2. Application of maltitol.

2.1 Application in functional food.

Maltitol is hardly decomposed in the body, so it can be used as a food raw material for diabetics and obese patients.

2.2 Used in candy and chocolate production.

Because maltitol has a good flavor and taste, good moisture retention and non-crystallization, it can be used to make various candies, including foamed marshmallows, hard candies, transparent soft candies, etc.

2.3 Application in juice drinks.

Maltitol has a certain viscosity and is difficult to ferment. Therefore, when making suspension fruit juice drinks or lactic acid drinks, adding maltitol instead of a part of sugar can make the drink taste plump and lubricated.

2.4 Application in frozen food.

The use of maltitol including maltitol liquid and maltitol powder in ice cream can make the product fine and thick, sweet and delicious, and prolong the shelf life. As a food additive, maltitol is allowed to be used in cold drinks, cakes, fruit juices, biscuits, bread, pickles, and candies, and the dosage can be determined according to production needs.

After eating maltose, it should follow the degradation sequence of "maltose→glucose" to digest the glucose that can be absorbed by the small intestine of the human body, thereby raising blood sugar and providing energy for the human body. However, when maltose is hydrogenated into maltitol, due to the change of chemical structure, maltitol cannot be degraded quickly into glucose suitable for human absorption. Moreover, the sweetness of maltitol is 90% of that of sucrose, and it can produce roughly the same sweet taste as sucrose on the tongue. When the amount of maltitol added is too large, it will occupy a large number of reaction sites of enzymes that digest maltose, so that the maltose degraded from starch cannot be digested and absorbed quickly; The osmotic pressure of the intestinal content continues to rise, and the intestinal tract cannot quickly absorb the moisture of the digested matter in the intestinal lumen, resulting in the high water content of the intestinal content all the way to the rectum, eventually leading to temporary hyperosmolar diarrhea.

However, within a reasonable amount of consumption, maltitol can actually meet people's needs for sweets and avoid the severe impact of simple sugars on blood sugar levels. The key to the problem lies in the correct use. We need to know where the reasonable range of the added amount is and how to add it is appropriate. When multiple sugar alcohols are used in food formulations, the additive effect of sugar alcohol intolerance should be considered. While companies are working hard to find more reasonable sugar-alcohol formulas, consumers should also learn to carefully identify sugar-alcohol foods, and remember not to overeat when buying and eating sugar-free foods.

Secondly, we can achieve the purpose of increasing sweetness and reducing sugar through the compound formula of various sweeteners, so that we can enjoy the happiness of sweets without worrying about the negative health effects of sugar and the risk of sugar alcohol intolerance problem.

Finally, relevant regulations can also require sugar alcohol products to be labelled with warnings to remind consumers of gastrointestinal discomfort that may occur after eating sugar alcohol-containing products, such as abdominal distension, diarrhoea, and borborygmus.