Fructose as a sweetener

Fructose is sweeter than table sugar. It is almost twice sweet as sugar. Fructose is a commercial sugar with same molecular structure as that in fruit.

Fructose was first extracted from cane sugar more than a century ago, and it’s found in varying amounts in such fruits as apples, grapes, oranges and berries.

Fructose can used as a sugar substitute in crystalline or syrup form. Most fructose used to sweeten commercial products is obtained from corn.

It has a low glycemic index, releasing out glucose into bloods stream slowly. Fructose produces liver glycogen rapidly making it a more efficient energy supply than other sweeteners.

It is monosaccharide sugar with an energy content of 4 kcals/g (17 kJ/g) but due to its increased sweetness can be used at lower levels than sucrose.

Fructose has been touted as a simple, natural and miracle sweetener; that is more healthful than white sugar.

It is also promoted as an aid to weight loss because it is sweeter than white sugar, enabling one to get the same sweetness with less sweetness.

Like sugar and salt, fructose is on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of additives ‘generally recognized as safe’.
Fructose as a sweetener