Title: Alternative Sweeteners

13
Erythritol
Milda E. Embuscado and Sakharam K. Patil
Cerestar USA, Inc., Hammond, Indiana
I. INTRODUCTION
Erythritol is a unique member of the polyol family. Polyols or polyhydric alcohols
are polyhydroxyl compounds derived through the hydrogenation of their parent
reducing sugars (1). These compounds do not have an aldehyde group, therefore,
they do not undergo Maillard reaction and are relatively stable to heat and
changes in pH. Erythritol is a small linear sugar alcohol with four carbon atoms
(Fig. 1). It belongs to the acyclic alcohols, a group of sugar alcohols. Its small
molecular size gives erythritol its extraordinary physicochemical, nutritional, and
physiological properties, such as lower caloric value and higher digestive tolerance
compared with other polyols. These properties will be discussed in more
detail later in this chapter.
Erythritol is a naturally occurring substance. It is found in a variety of foods
such as grapes, pears, melons, and mushrooms and in fermented products such
as soy sauce, sake, and wines (Table 1). The concentration of erythritol in foods
and fermented products ranges from 22–1500 mg per liter or kg (2). Erythritol
is a minor component of blood and amniotic fluids of cows and other mammals
(3). It can also be found in the human body, for instance, in the lens tissue (4),
in cerebrospinal fluid (5), in seminal plasma (6), and in the blood serum (7).
Erythritol is the main polyol in the human urine with concentration ranging from
10–30 mg/l (2).
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