Lactose relative sweetness

Lactitol. Lactitol (4-0-/ -D-galactopyranosyl-D-sorbitol), is a synthetic sugar alcohol produced on reduction of lactose, usually using Raney nickel. It can be crystallized as a mono- or di-hydrate. Lactitol is not metabolized by higher animals it is relatively sweet and hence has potential as a non-nutritive sweetener. It is claimed that lactitol reduces the absorption of sucrose, blood and liver cholesterol levels and to be anticariogenic. It has applications in low-calorie foods (jams, marmalade, chocolate, baked goods) it is non-hygroscopic and can be used to coat moisture-sensitive foods, e.g. sweets. 

Relative Sweetness. It has been amply demonstrated that the relative sweetness of sugars changes with the concentration. Therefore it is misleading to say that one sugar is so many times as sweet as another, because this will be true only at certain concentrations. Table 6.5 summarizes results on the relative sweetness of some common sugars. It should be noted that lactose is relatively sweeter at higher concentrations than at lower concentrations and is sweeter than is usually reported in reviews of food applications. 

The relative sweetness of a number of sugars and artificial sweeteners is given in Table 23.3. Somewhat lower thresholds than those given in Table 23.2 were obtained for sucrose (0 017 %), fructose (0 016 %), glucose (0-132 %), and lactose (0-0160%) when expressed as the concentration at which 50% of the responses correctly distinguished the sugar solution from a distilled water blank [23]. 

Table 10.16. Relative sweetness of saccharose, glucose, fructose and lactose ...

Milk is also kind to teeth because it contains a type of sugar (lactose) which significantly reduces the risk of decay. Lactose is, compared with table sugar (sucrose), less cariogenic and relatively free from sweetness. 

Most commercial ODTs have been developed using mannitol as the bulk excipient of choice because of its extremely low hygroscopicity, excellent compatibility, good compressibility, better sweetness, and relatively slower dissolution kinetics. Although lactose also has a relatively low aqueous solubility compared with other excipients that have acceptable palatabilities, the dispersibility of a bulk excipient is more important than its aqueous solubility for a successful ODT formulation. Many of the initially marketed ODTs were prepared by the wet granulation of mannitol followed by direct compression. However, added functionality mannitols are now available to simplify the process of ODT manufacturing by direct compression. 

Saltmarch, M. and Labuza, T.P. Influence of relative humidity on the physicochemical state of lactose in spray-dried sweet whey powders, /. Food Sci., 45,1231,1980. 

Lactose (C12H22O11) is a disaccharide of dextrose and galactose and is present in milk (Figure 3.5). Lactose is substantially less sweet than sucrose. It also has a relatively low solubility, as a result of which it can crystallize out of ice cream as a monohydrate i.e. for each lactose molecule there is also a water molecule in the crystal). The crystals... 

Among the disaccharide sweetening agents, D-fruc-tose tastes the sweetest—even sweeter than sucrose. The sweet taste of honey is due largely to D-fructose and D-glucose. Lactose has almost no sweetness and is sometimes added to foods as filler. Some people cannot tolerate lactose well, however, and should avoid these foods.The following table lists the sweetness of various carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners relative to that of sucrose ... 

Lactose is a naturally occurring carbohydrate found in the milk of mammals. It serves as the principal source of carbohydrate and energy for their young. It is much less sweet than sucrose and has a relatively bland taste. a,oi-Trehalose is a carbohydrate found in yeasts and fungi and is the major sugar in the hemolymph fluid of insects, where it serves as a source of energy. 

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