Overview
ABSTRACT
This paper's main objective is to present in a first part the family of carbohydrates in the form of a classification with key names, and key natural ways of obtaining sugars and their derivatives sources. Then biochemical concepts will be discussed in order to clarify the different types of sugars. Then physical, biochemical and sensory properties will be processed. In the second part their impact will be demonstrated on human health, in terms of nutrition and health. Finally, the technological aspects of the roles they fulfill within the food will be approached by concrete case studies in various fields.
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Jean-Luc BOUTONNIER: Industrial food engineering teacher at the Lycée des Métiers de l'Alimentation in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, France
INTRODUCTION
Carbohydrates, a vast biochemical family, are a category of nutrients that make up an important part of our diet. They are the main source of carbohydrates in the majority of human diets. Some are of natural origin, such as sucrose, commonly known as sugar, and produced by sacchariferous plants. While the main low-cost industrial sources are sugar cane (Saccharum robustum, officinarum...) and beet (Beta vulgaris altissima L), sugars are also extracted from fruit (grapes, apples, melons...), from the sap of a particular variety of maple (Acer saccharum), and from leaves (Stevia Rebaudiana). Initially, only sucrose was used as a basic foodstuff. Then it was the turn of native starch, a reserve carbohydrate extracted mainly from corn, to enter the consumer goods market. Then, over time, as science and technology progressed, mankind, armed with new knowledge of carbohydrate chemistry, developed the extraction and purification of other carbohydrates, such as lactose, fructose and glucose, and developed derivatives such as modified starches, polyols and so on.
Often misleadingly referred to as sugars, and the source of numerous derivatives, carbohydrates constitute a remarkable and complex biochemical family that is difficult to define precisely. Indeed, while most publications agree on the degree of polymerization as a criterion for classifying carbohydrates, the bibliography on carbohydrates offers several non-consensual classifications (WHO/FAO in 1998, Dobbing in 1989 and Lehninger in 1981).
The main sources and routes for obtaining carbohydrates and their derivatives are discussed briefly and synthetically in this article, using illustrations to highlight the diversity of the technologies used and the products obtained. Only two examples are developed, namely fructose and lactose.
Next, a biochemical study provides an overview of the many substances that make up the large family of carbohydrates and their derivatives.
The properties of carbohydrates are then examined. Firstly, the main physical properties are reviewed, with particular emphasis on one very important aspect: crystallization, an operation at the heart of sugar extraction and purification technology. Secondly, the main biochemical properties are discussed, with particular emphasis on non-enzymatic browning reactions, which are sometimes avoided because of their harmful effects on the desired product quality, and sometimes induced to modify the color and flavor of certain foodstuffs... Finally, sensory and cognitive properties are addressed.
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KEYWORDS
biochemistry | carbohydrates properties | carbohydrate | sugar
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Carbohydrates and food: physicochemical aspects
Bibliography
Standardization
Codex standard for sugars 1, codex stan 212-1999
- Saccharose purifié et cristallisé avec une polarisation de 99,7° au moins - Sucre blanc -
- Saccharose purifié et cristallisé avec une polarisation de 99,5° au moins - Sucre de plantation ou sucre -
- Sucre blanc finement...
factory name (or any other equivalent name accepted in the country of origin in which it is sold)
Regulations
EC Regulation No. 1260/2001 of June 19, 2001, on the common organization of the markets in the sugar sector, definition of sugars in Annexes 1 and 2:
APPENDIX 1
Point I
Typical white sugar quality
1. White sugar of the standard quality has the following characteristics:
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