Tag: Sugar substitutes
-
Ira Remsen (1846 – 1927) discovered artificial sweetener saccharin along with Constantin Fahlberg
Ira Remsen was an American chemist who discovered the artificial sweetener saccharin along with Constantin Fahlberg. He was the second president of Johns Hopkins University. Early life Ira Remsen was born in New York City on February 10, 1846. He is the son of James Vanderbelt Remsen (1818–1892) and Rosanna Secor (1823–1856). He married Elisabeth Hilleard Mallory on Apr 3, 1875, in New York…
-
Xylitol: sweetener and laxative from hell
Xylitol, a natural sugar alcohol, has gained popularity as a low-calorie sweetener and the peddlers have attributed numerous health benefits to their product. This post is going to focus on one that doesn’t get nearly enough attention except in the countries where it was banned in things like soft drinks and elsehwere requires a diarrhea…
-
Xylitol production by fermentation from discarded biomass is one of the most valuable renewable chemicals
Xylitol occurs naturally in small amounts in plums, strawberries, cauliflower, and pumpkin; humans and many other animals make trace amounts during metabolism of carbohydrates. Unlike most sugar alcohols, xylitol is achiral. Most other isomers of pentane-1,2,3,4,5-pentol are chiral, but xylitol has a plane of symmetry. Industrial production starts with lignocellulosic biomass from which xylan is extracted; raw biomass materials include hardwoods, softwoods, and agricultural waste from processing…
-
History of xylitol
Emil Fischer, a German chemistry professor, and his assistant Rudolf Stahel isolated a new compound from beech wood chips in September 1890 and named it Xylit, the German word for xylitol. The following year, the French chemist M.G. Bertrand isolated xylitol syrup by processing wheat and oat straw. Sugar rationing during World War II led to an interest in sugar substitutes.…
-
Xylitol
Xylitol is a chemical compound with the formula C5H12O5, or HO(CH2)(CHOH)3(CH2)OH; specifically, one particular stereoisomer with that structural formula. It is a colorless or white crystalline solid that is freely soluble in water. It can be classified as a polyalcohol and a sugar alcohol, specifically an alditol. The name derives from Ancient Greek: ξύλον, xyl[on] ‘wood’, with the suffix -itol used to denote sugar alcohols. Xylitol is used as a food additive and sugar substitute. Its European…