Erythritol Characteristics And Fermentation Process

Erythritol is white crystal, slightly sweet, with a relative sweetness of 0.65 , cooling sensation, and low caloric value, about one-tenth of the caloric value of sucrose. Due to low solubility, it is easy to crystallize. Used in organic synthesis and biochemical research. It is made from wheat, corn and other starch, through safe and appropriate food-grade hypertonic yeast such as Monilielaplinis , Candida lipolvtica or Tricho sporonoides meachilensis at high concentrations >450gL to get enzymatic fermentation. And the fermentation liquid is heated, sterilized and filtered, then purified by ion exchange resin, activated carbon and ultrafiltration, crystallized, washed and dried. The general yield is about 50% . Erythritol is widely distributed in nature and is found in seaweed, mushrooms, and fruits such as melons and grapes. Since some microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and yeast can also produce erythritol,It is also found in fermented foods, such as fruit wine, wine, beer, rice wine, etc. There are two main production methods for erythritol: chemical synthesis and fermentation. 

Erythritol has good crystallinity, low hygroscopicity, and is easy to crush to produce powdered products. It does not absorb moisture in an environment with a relative humidity of 90%. It is more difficult to absorb moisture than sucrose. When using powder, the operation process is the same as that of granulated sugar.

The melting point of erythritol is 126°C, the boiling point is 329~331°C, and it is very stable against acid and heat. Under normal food processing conditions, there will be almost no browning or decomposition, and it can endure the high-temperature cooking steps in hard candy production without browning. 

The heat of dissolution of erythritol in water is 3 times that of glucose and 1.8 times that of sorbitol. Even if it is mixed with sugar, the dissolution heat absorption is large, so it can make foods with a refreshing feeling.

Sugar can promote the combination of alcohol and water, and has the effect of easing the stimulus of alcohol; during the melting process, the degree of binding is measured using differential scanning thermal analysis. The measurement results show that the degree of solubility can indicate the degree of binding. Therefore, compared with other sugars, even a small amount of erythritol can promote the combination of water and alcohol. 

Since there are many microorganisms in nature that can metabolize and produce erythritol, it can be produced and prepared using biotechnology. Using wheat or corn starch as raw material, it is enzymatically degraded to generate glucose, which is then fermented by high-osmotic yeast to produce erythritol and a small amount of ribitol, glycerol and other by-products. The typical yield is close to 50%. Highly osmotic yeast can ferment and metabolize under low moisture conditions, which can increase the yield per unit volume and also reduce pollution and losses during the fermentation process. Finally, high-purity erythritol is crystallized from the clarified concentrated fermentation liquid.