Palatinose™ - Toothfriendly and fully digestible sugar – Beneo

BENEO recently launched its next generation sugar – a unique functional carbohydrate. Palatinose™ (generic name: isomaltulose) is a pure, white crystalline carbohydrate derived from sucrose and occurring naturally in e.g. sugar cane juice or honey. 

For use in larger quantities as a functional carbohydrate in food, Südzucker/BENEO developed a process to obtain Palatinose™ from sugar (sucrose).  The disaccharide produced by BENEO is kosher, halal and non-GMO. Its sensory profile closely resembles that of sugar and is about half as sweet. This mild, natural sweetness is not marred by any unpleasant side- or after-taste. Palatinose™ can be used just like sugar in formulations and can be processed in exactly the same way. Its shelf-life is comparable to that of sucrose.

The only difference between Palatinose™ and sugar lies in their bond between the glucose and the fructose units.  Due to this specific molecular bond Palatinose™ is fully absorbed but slower than commonly known sugars or carbohydrates. It therefore offers the full caloric value of carbohydrates (4 kcal/g) but in a balanced and longer lasting way.

Palatinose™, as a functional carbohydrate, combines various beneficial physiological properties which otherwise are attributed to higher molecular non-sweet carbohydrates or less-digestible and not so well tolerated carbohydrates. It is therefore the preferred choice to make food and beverage applications more healthy and to offer  consumers an optimized way of energy management for body and mind.

Its nutritional and technological benefits make Palatinose™ particular suitable for all RTD and instant sports drinks, providing the endured energy athletes need for a better performance. Besides sports nutrition it can also be used in wellness and energy drinks as well as in functional dairy, tea, and in beer. Moreover, it is highly suitable for confectionery, baby food, nutritional and cereal bars.

Applications

Baby foods and infant formulae
Bakery products
Beverages
Cereals
Confectionery products 
Dairy foods 
Ice cream

Palatinose™ is the only fully digestible, low glycaemic carbohydrate that provides prolonged energy in the form of glucose. Its slow but complete hydrolysis and absorption is reflected in the very low glycaemic effect (GI 32) of Palatinose™. It guarantees a balanced energy supply without peaks and troughs in the blood glucose response curve, thus helping to avoid "hunger pangs". Being absorbed four to five times slower than sucrose it provides a sustained energy release in form of glucose which is essential for mental and physical performance.

Being low glycaemic and low insulinemic, it helps to improve fat oxidation during physical activity which leads to a higher proportion of energy expenditure from lipids and thus to a prolonged energy supply.  Due to its stabilised molecular bond it is hardly fermented by oral microbes and thus no enamel harming acids are produced. The Federal Drug administration (FDA) approved Palatinose™ in 2007 as being “non-cariogenic”.
As a non-fermentable carbohydrate, it stabilises the food matrix against bacterial spoilage. Its strong molecular bond also influences its stability in acidic environments which means e.g. that drinks s with Palatinose™ maintain a constant osmolality – no matter if isotonic or hypotonic.

The functional carbohydrate is non-hygroscopic so it does not cake and remains dry and free-flowing, even on prolonged storage and at high temperatures. This means that it is very readily processed both into ready-to-drink beverages and into instant drinks. Moreover, Palatinose™ is not fermented by environmental microbes and lactobacilii and thus can used as an infermentable carbohydrate e.g. in dairy applications. Depending on the application a combination of Palatinose™ with other sweeteners can result in improved sweetness, taste and texture of the final products.

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