Will tagatose become a new generation of sugar substitute "stars"?

The sweeteners in food have gone through the application process of sucrose, artificial sweeteners aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and natural sweeteners steviol glycosides and erythritol

Tagatose is a new type of low-calorie sweetener, similar in structure to allulose, a "rare sugar" that exists in very small amounts in fruits, cocoa and dairy products

In 2001, the new low-calorie sweetener tagatose was generally recognized as safe by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization

Technology limits commercial production

According to relevant data, the global sugar substitute market size is estimated at US$16.

The production of tagatose generally uses lactose as the raw material, which is hydrolyzed to obtain galactose, which is then converted into galactose after isomerization, decolorization, desalination and other steps

Although it will take time for tagatose to achieve mass production, the potential functional value of tagatose itself indicates that it will have broad application prospects in the future

Significant features

As a functional monosaccharide, tagatose has many advantages in energy metabolism, lowering blood sugar, improving intestinal flora, and resisting dental caries

Low-calorie animal experiments show that tagatose consumes more energy in the process of metabolism than the energy available in the release process, does not cause fat precipitation, and provides much less energy than sucrose

Low GI GI is a measure of the effect of carbohydrates in food on blood sugar levels

Improve intestinal flora 80% of the tagatose ingested by the body cannot be absorbed by the small intestine.

Anti-caries Studies have found that tagatose cannot be utilized by microorganisms in the oral cavity, does not lower the pH of dental plaque, and thus does not cause dental caries

Broad application prospects

Tagatose, as a functional sugar substitute, has broad application prospects in the fields of beverages, dairy products, candy, baked goods and other foods

Beverages In the beverage industry, tagatose can be compounded with high-intensity sweeteners such as cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and stevia to achieve synergistic effects to eliminate the metal produced by these high-intensity sweeteners.

In 2003, a U.

Dairy products Tagatose derived from lactose has a milky taste, and a small amount of addition can significantly improve the taste of dairy products.

With the in-depth study of tagatose properties, the application of tagatose has been extended to other dairy products

Baked products Tagatose is easy to caramelize at low temperature, and it is easier to produce ideal color and mellow flavor than sucrose, and can be used in baked goods
.

Confectionery Tagatose can be used as a sweetener in chocolate without major changes to the process
.
The viscosity and endothermic properties of chocolate produced with added tagatose are similar to those with added sucrose
.
At the same time, the anti-caries functional properties of tagatose have great application potential in the fields of chewing gum and children's candy
.

Some experts predict that now, under the global sugar reduction trend, with the continuous breakthrough of production technology, tagatose may become a new generation of sugar substitute "stars"
.

(Zong Wen)

"China Food News" (July 5, 2021 06 edition)

(Editor-in-charge: Yang Xiaojing)