a yellowish to white, crystalline, water-soluble, levorotatory ketose sugar, C 6 H 12 O 6, sweeter than sucrose, occurring in invert sugar, honey, and a great many fruits: used in foodstuffs and in medicine chiefly in solution as an intravenous nutrient.
Contents
Uses
The primary reason that fructose is used commercially in foods and beverages, besides its low cost, is its high relative sweetness. It is the sweetest of all naturally occurring carbohydrates. The relative sweetness of fructose has been reported in the range of 1.2–1.8 times that of sucrose
Benefits
Glycemic Index/Insulin Release
Glycemic index has been advocated as a means to gauge the compatibility of foods with the special needs of people with diabetes or those on a diabetes diet. Fructose has a low glycemic index and results in moderate release of insulin to the bloodstream relative to glucose and sucrose.
Dental Caries
The only proven health risk of nutritive sweeteners at typical consumption levels is dental caries. Fructose is among the least cariogenic of the nutritive sugars. Primary applications areas for crystalline fructose include dry mix beverages, low calorie products, enhanced or flavored water, still and carbonated beverages, sports and energy drinks, chocolate milk, breakfast cereals, baked goods, yogurt, fruit packs and confections.
Sweetness
Fructose is the sweetest of all nutritive sweeteners. The sweetness of fructose ranges from 1.17 to 1.75 times that of sucrose, depending upon the food or beverage in which it is used.
Flavor Enhancement
Its sweetness perception peaks and falls earlier than glucose and sucrose, “unmasking” fruit and spice flavors.
Ingredient Synergy
The interaction of fructose with other sweeteners and starches results in a synergy that boosts the sweetness, cake height (baked goods) and viscosity of foods and beverages.
Shelf-stability
Fructose does not hydrolyze in acidic conditions like sucrose does, so finished product sweetness and flavor are stable over extended storage times.
Solubility/Resistance to Crystallization
While sold in crystalline form, fructose recrystallizes with difficulty once it is solubilized in foods. This property made possible the development of soft moist cookies.
Humectancy
Fructose binds and retains moisture so well that it can replace sorbitol and glycerin in foods, thereby improving taste.
Cautions
Fructose has also been implicated as the main cause of symptoms in somepatients with chronic diarrhea or other functional bowel disturbances. In addition,excessive fructose consumption may be responsible in part for the increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes mellitus, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Interactions
Unknown, please consult your doctor.
Other names
fruit sugar
References
Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose
Fructosefacts, http://fructosefacts.org/about/benefits/