A DSC Study of Hydrated Sugar Alcohols. Isomalt

A DSC study has been carried out on isomalt, a commercial sugar alcohol derived from sucrose and widely used as a sweetener in the food industry. Isomalt is a mixture of two isomers:α-D-glucopyranosyl–1-6-mannitol (GPM) and α-D-glucopyranosyl–1-6-sorbitol (GPS). Release of the water of crystallisation (around 100°C)and melting (around 150°C) have been phenomenologically characterised using different scanning rates and heat treatments. The effect of dehydration/re-hydration on the melting has been investigated. The isomalt glass transition, at about 60°C, was studied on samples cooled after melting. The dynamic aspect of structural relaxation of isomalt has been quantified by its fragility parameter. Glassy state stability has been evaluated by performing ageing experiments at sub-T _g temperatures. During ageing, apart from the expected enthalpy relaxation effects, isomalt showed a peculiar behaviour, due to its isomeric composition. These preliminary and phenomenological results have been interpreted in terms of isomer structure and of carbohydrate-water interactions in the mixture. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal properties of isomalt: A diastereomer mixture

Isomalt, a commercial sugar alcohol widely used as a sweetener, is approximately a 1:1 mixture of two diastereomers, -D-glucopyranosyl-1-6-mannitol (GPM) and -D-glucopyranosyl-1-6-sorbitol (GPS). A calorimetric investigation has been carried out on mixtures of isomalt with GPS, in the (molar) composition range 0.45<x_GPS<1, for both crystalline and amorphous states.The GPS-rich portion of the solid-liquid GPM/GPS phase diagram was established and discussed in light of the existing literature. New evidence was given for the non-ideality of GPM/GPS mixtures, by indicating excess interactions in the melt and/or in the solid state. The commonly accepted hypothesis of a simple GPM/GPS eutectic forming isomalt was refuted in favour of more complicated mixture behaviour with possible formation of a complex.Glass transition and physical ageing of isomalt and GPS were re-visited, with peculiar attention given to the measurement conditions. Standard thermal histories were adapted to each sample and the fictive temperature was used for the characterisation of the structural glass states. A linear increase of the fictive temperature was found upon passing from pure GPS to x_GPS=0.45. GPS showed a slightly higher enthalpy relaxation rate than isomalt.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.