Intestinal fermentation In healthy humans, partial hydrolysis of disaccharide polyols occurs in the small intestine but absorption is incomplete and a mixture of hydrolysates and undigested polyol passes to the large bowel and is subject to bacterial fermentation (Billaux et al., 1991; Livesey, 1992). Monosaccharide alcohols are also incompletely absorbed and contribute to a carbohydrate […]

Polyols are quite closely related to sugars, with the reducing group of the sugar being replaced by a hydroxyl group. Hydrogenated monosaccharides include sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, and erythritol, and hydrogenated disaccharides include maltitol, lactitol, and isomalt, whereas Lycasin® is a mixture of hydrogenated saccharides and polysaccharides. In the EC, all polyols and HGS are considered […]

Plant starch is the main dietary carbohydrate, being composed of glucose units held together by 1,4-α-glycosidic linkages with 1,6-α-glycosidic branch points. Starch is hydrolyzed by salivary and pancreatic amylases with subsequent hydrolysis of maltose and limit dextrins by a limited number of enzymes such as maltase and a-dextrinase which are intrinsic membrane proteins of the […]