The Characteristics of Crystalline Fructose And Its Applications in Food Industry I. Characteristics of crystalline fructose. 1. High sweetness, enhanced sweetness, with a sweetness 1.3-1.8 times that of sucrose. 2. High osmotic pressure, with an osmotic

The Characteristics of Crystalline Fructose And Its Applications in Food Industry

I. Characteristics of crystalline fructose.

1. High sweetness, enhanced sweetness, with a sweetness 1.3-1.8 times that of sucrose.

2. High osmotic pressure, with an osmotic pressure twice that of sugar.

3. High moisturizing ability, low water activity.

4. Reduce the freezing temperature.

5. Flavor enhancement, high aroma retention, and affinity with proteins.

II. The application effects of crystalline fructose in food.

1. Low calorific value characteristics. In natural sugar, fructose is a sweeter sugar with a refreshing and long-lasting sweetness, which is 1.2-1.8 times sweeter than sucrose. In the application process of fructose, temperature, pH, and concentration all will affect the sweetness of fructose, with temperature having a more significant impact. The lower the temperature, the higher the sweetness. Therefore, various low calorie foods have been produced by utilizing the high sweetness characteristics of fructose.

2. Flavor enhancement and affinity. The peak sweetness of fructose occurs before the peak flavor of other components, so it does not mask other flavors and also has the effect of enhancing other flavors. Due to the abundant presence of fructose in natural fruits, it has a strong flavor affinity with other components in the fruit. The use of fructose in fruit juice drinks not only increases the sweetness and improves the flavor, but also has the effect of inhibiting the escape of fruit juice aroma and maintaining the inherent aroma of fruit juice. Therefore, fructose has been used in high-end fruit juice beverages.

3. Baking and water retention characteristics. In baked goods, starch and sweeteners are usually used as the main ingredients simultaneously, and the type of sweetener has a significant impact on the gelatinization temperature of starch. The longer the carbon chain of a sweetener, the higher the gelatinization temperature. Fructose, as a monosaccharide, has a short carbon chain and a low gelatinization temperature. Meanwhile, in baked goods, yeast utilizes fructose faster than sucrose and has better fermentation performance. So, fructose is widely used in baked goods. During the baking process, fructose is prone to undergo caramelization reaction, resulting in caramel with a unique flavor of baked goods. In addition, due to its lower water activity compared to other sweeteners, fructose is one of the more effective sweeteners in reducing the water activity of food. By utilizing the high water retention property of fructose, baked goods such as bread and cakes that are processed cannot be dried after prolonged storage and still have a soft texture after several days.

4. Frost resistance. Due to its lower freezing point compared to other sweeteners, fructose has better frost resistance among all nutritional sweeteners. By utilizing the characteristic of fructose, adding fructose during the manufacturing process of frozen foods such as ice cream can effectively prevent the freezing of frozen foods, making the product texture soft and the tissue delicate.

5. Anti corrosion characteristics. Fructose has a high osmotic pressure, which can effectively inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria, and has good preservative properties.