Glucose Syrups or High Fructose Syrups

Glucose syrups, also known as corn syrups in the United States, are defined by European Commission (EC) as ‘a refined, concentrated aqueous solution of D(+)-glucose, maltose and other polymers of D-glucose obtained by the controlled partial hydrolysis of starch.

Glucose syrups were first manufactured industrially in the nineteenth century by acid hydrolysis of starch.

Hydrochloric acid was normally used, because sulphuric acid cause haze in syrups due to insoluble sulphates.

The source of starch can vary; in United States corn is widely used, whereas in other part o the world wheat, potato and cassava starch also employed.

The method is non specific, but of conditions are tightly controlled, it is possible to make products with a reasonably consistent carbohydrate profile.

Enzymes are also use to hydrolyze starch to glucose syrups, and these give a greater degree of control over the sugar profile of the resulting syrup.

The availability of commercial isomerizes enzymes in the 1970s, which are capable of converting glucose to fructose, allowed significant development of the production of high-fructose corn syrups with fructose levels of 42% an a sweetness level equivalent to sucrose.

Use of separation technology allowed further refinement of these products to give 55% fructose syrups.

These types of syrups are used extensively in the soft drinks, particularly in the United States.

In soft drinks, glucose, syrups are used to provide sweetness and mouthfeel to products and occasionally specific physiological properties in sports and energy drinks.
Glucose Syrups or High Fructose Syrups

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is an extra sweet, inexpensive sweetener used mostly in soft drinks and fruit juices.

HFCS is a sweetener made from corn, not the plants typically associated with sweetness like sugar cane and sugar beets, which give table sugar or sucrose.

It is made by milling corn into corn starch, then processing the corn starch into corn syrup, which is almost entirely composed of the sugar known as glucose. The resulting sweetener could be purified to 90 percent fructose, a product that is much sweetener than glucose or sucrose.

There are two forms of HFCS, known as HFCS 55 and HFCS 42, with the number denoting the percentage of fructose or ‘fruit sugar’.

HFCS 55 has sweetness equivalent to sucrose and is found mostly in beverages whereas HFCS 42 is less sweet and used primarily in baked goods also in many fruit-flavored noncarbonated beverages.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Simple sugar of carbohydrates

The carbohydrates are divided into two large groups – simple sugars and compound sugars.

Carbohydrates such as such as glucose, galactose and fructose, which cannot be hydrolyzed into simpler compounds, are called monosaccharides. They are sweet, require no digestion, and can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream from the small intestine.

Monosaccharides are single-sugar molecules that are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the ratio of 1:2:1.

One of the common simple sugar is glucose also called dextrose, is the form of carbohydrate to which all other forms are converted for eventual metabolism. It is found naturally in corn syrup and some fruits, blood living cells and vegetables. The central nervous system, the red blood cells, and the brain use only glucose as fuel, therefore a continuous source is needed.

A solution of glucose is often given intravenously when a source of quick energy is needed to sustain life.
Simple sugar of carbohydrates

Glucose syrup

Glucose syrup
Glucose syrups and high fructose syrups can be used as a complete, but more usually partial, replacement of sucrose in the majority of carbonated soft drinks.

Used in conjunction with sucrose syrups with appropriate fructose contents enable sweetness levels to be adjusted according to specific market preferences.

Glucose syrups, although available in drum containers, are generally supplied in specially designed road tankers.

The syrups normally incorporated are :demineralised 95DE syrup; 63DE syrup; high fructose syrup of 42% fructose and various blend of the above, with and without sucrose to produce the required level of sweetness viscosity and mouth feel.

The temperature of delivered glucose syrup depends on the specific type involved.

95DE is delivered at a minimum temperature of 50 degree C because of the possibility of crystallization below that temperature, 63De at a temperature of 40 – 45 degree C and high fructose at 28 – 30 degree C.

It is important to note that 63DE glucose syrup, in particular, will increase its solution color on storage.

Consequently, a mineralized form is necessary if the product is to be stored for up to three weeks.
Glucose syrup