Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Sorbitol and Mannitol 331
that mannitol compound coatings perform better than other sugar-free coatings
because less chocolate is required to successfully enrobe a confection.
2. Chewing Gum
In chewing gum, mannitol is used in a small percentage. It is used in two areas,
both in the gum and in the dusting on top of the stick of gum. In the gum, mannitol
is used as part of the plasticizer system to help maintain the soft texture of the
gum. In the dusting powder, mannitol is used as the sole or primary ingredient.
The surface of stick gum is dusted so that the gum does not stick to the manufacturing
equipment or gum wrapper. Mannitol is used because it is nonhygroscopic.
It protects the gum from picking up moisture and becoming too sticky, thus preventing
it from adhering to the equipment or gum wrapper.
3. Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Tablets
Mannitol is used in tableting applications as a diluent or filler. A diluent or filler
is an inactive ingredient that binds with the active drug substance and helps to
compress it into a tablet. As a diluent, mannitol often makes up the bulk of the
tablet imparting its properties to the rest of the granulation. Mannitol comes in
two forms for tablet applications. There is powdered mannitol for wet granulation
tablet manufacture and granular mannitol for direct compression tablet manufacture.
The only difference between these products is their particle size distribution.
The granular mannitols contain larger particles and less fine particles so they
are free flowing. This is important for the direct compression method of tablet
manufacture because the tablet ingredients are simply dry blended before they
are introduced into the tablet press hopper.
Mannitol is most often used in chewable tablets because of its pleasant
sweet taste and good mouth-feel. Mannitol is 50% as sweet as sucrose and has
a cooling effect because of its negative heat of solution. These attributes lend
themselves to masking the bitter tastes of vitamins and minerals, herbs, or pharmaceutical
actives.
One of the major benefits of mannitol for tableting is its chemical inertness.
Mannitol is one of the most stable tablet diluents available. It will not react with
other tablet ingredients under any conditions. Many other tablet ingredients, such
as lactose or dextrose, undergo the Maillard reaction when combined with active
drug substances that contain a free amine group. This reaction causes the tablet
to discolor, turning a brownish color. Mannitol does not undergo the Maillard
reaction so therefore will not result in tablet discoloration. Mannitol has a high
melting point and will not discolor at higher temperatures, as do some other tablet
ingredients (13).
Another extremely important benefit of mannitol is that it is nonhygroscopic.
Mannitol is very stable and will not pick up moisture, even under condi-