Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Maltitol 285
Like the other polyols, maltitol has no reducing groups and will not undergo
Maillard reactions to produce caramel-colored species in the presence of amino
acids or proteins. Maltitol has a sweetness of about 85–95% that of sucrose,
making it sweeter than all other polyols except xylitol with a taste remarkably
similar to sucrose.
Towa Chemical Industry, Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Mitsubishi Corporation,
Tokyo, Japan, produces and markets both crystalline maltitol and crystalline mixture
solids of maltitol under various brand names, including Amalty MR and
Lesys. Towa received a license for the patent of the process from Hayashibara
Biochemical Laboratories, Okayama, Japan, which pioneered the process. Towa’s
license is by geographical region and includes Japan, the United States, and
several other countries in Asia, Oceania, and America. Hayashibara also licenses
the patent to Cerestar and Roquette Freres who both market the product in Europe
under the brand Malbit and Maltisorb. Roquette America, Inc., an affiliate of
Roquette Freres, also received a license in America and markets the product in
the United States.
The specifications in Table 1 show the varying chemical compositions of
several commercialized brands of maltitol supplied by Towa Chemical Industry
and Roquette Freres (Lestrem, France). Although both Towa (3) and Roquette
have the technology for producing high-purity crystalline maltitol, this type of
product may not necessarily be available in all countries. Patent constraints often
allow only one supplier in a given country.
For most applications, crystalline maltitol and crystalline mixture solids of
maltitol (i.e., min. 98% and min 92.5%) can be used interchangeably; exceptions
include pan coating in which slight differences in crystallinity might be evident.
Because sorbitol and other less sweet hydrogenated components are found in the
lower maltitol product, one may expect that the high maltitol product would be
Table 1 Specifications and Analysis for Commercially Available Crystalline
Maltitol Products
Roquette Maltisorb Towa Lesys Towa Amalty MR
Maltitol (min, %) 98.0 98.0 92.5
Sorbitol (max, %) — — 1.5
Maltotriitol (max, %) — — 3.0
Hydrogenated oligosac- — — 2.5
charides (max %)
Reducing sugars (max %, 0.01 0.01 0.5
as dextrose)
Melting point (°C) 149.4 149.3 140.3