Physicochemical properties and glucose tolerance of low-calorie cookies containing palatinose

This study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical properties and glucose tolerance of cookies made with palatinose as an alternative sweetener to sucrose. The analysis of texture properties showed that the hardness (8.63 kg-force) of the control (sucrose) was significantly different (p <.05) from that of the cookies containing palatinose (5.34–8.51 kg-force). The pH of the cookies showed an increasing trend with an increase in the palatinose replacement ratio. Cookies containing palatinose had significantly lower L values and higher values than that of cookies made with 100% sucrose. The overall acceptance of the cookies was highest (4.07) for the samples containing 80% sucrose/20% palatinose. Moreover, the oral glucose tolerance test and area under the curve of cookies containing palatinose showed relatively lower values compared to those of the control. The discrimination of sweetness sensory in the same mixing ratios of sucrose and palatinose did not significantly differ (Table 3). Practical applications: Palatinose, a commercial isomaltulose, is made from by enzymatic rearrangement (isomerization) of sucrose beet sugar. Its physical properties closely resemble those of sucrose, making it easy to use in exiting recipes and processes. Isomaltulose is hydrogenated to produce isomalt, a minimally digestible carbohydrate that is used as a sugar replacer, for example in sugar-free candies and confectioneries. Like sucrose, isomaltulose can be digested to glucose and fructose. However, while in sucrose the glucose is linked to the anomeric carbon of the fructose (an α-1,2 linkage), in isomaltulose the linkage is to the 6 carbon (α-1,6), making isomaltulose a reducing sugar, unlike sucrose. The fructose in isomaltulose exists in a ring structure that readily opens to exhibit a carbonyl group as in ketones and aldehydes, which explains why isomaltulose is a reducing sugar. In comparison with sucrose and most other carbohydrates, Palatinose is believed to be more applicable as a functional alternative sugar than that of as a sugar for calorie.