Lactitol For Sugarfree Compressed Sweets

Ria Van Hoef PURAC America, Inc.

n the food industry different types of tablets are pro- tablets made with different direct compressible polyols. Iduced, such as mints and tabletop sweetener tablets. The water absorption of the tablets made with lactitol is A modern way to make tablets is direct compression. negligible, only 0.1 percent after nine days. The sorbitol The advantages of direct compression above other tablets reach, at these conditions, equilibrium at approx- methods are diverse and mentioned below: imately 2 percent. Because of the low hygroscopicity of • Reduction of costs, caused by reduction of processing lactitol tablets, the moisture barrier of the packaging can time and manufacturing steps. be low and high packaging costs can be avoided. • Ease of processing, without moisture and heat, because Another important issue in sugarfree confections is no granulation steps are necessary. the tooth-friendliness of the ingredients. The tooth- • Avoidance of high compaction pressures. friendliness can be measured with the Mühlemann test. Direct compression is a process, in which all the ingre- This test is developed for measuring the pH of the den- dients are mixed together in a powder blend and directly tal plaque. Based on this test a product may be called compressed into a tablet. It is possible to make sugarfree tooth friendly when the pH of the dental plaque does not tablets by direct compression. Suitable excipients can be drop below 5.7 within a 30 minute period after con- polyols (sugar alcohols), like sorbitol, mannitol or lac- sumption. In Figure 3 lactitol is compared with sucrose, titol.The newest direct compressible polyol is lactitol dc which shows lactitol as a very tooth-friendly ingredient. (direct compression). Lactitol resembles sugar in many ways. Lactitol has a Lactitol is a polyol, derived from lactose by catalytic very neutral, sugar-like flavor and no aftertaste.The cool- hydrogenation of the glucose moiety of this disaccharide. ing effect of lactitol is close to sucrose. Lactitol is therefore Lactitol is a bulk sweetener, which is used in all sorts of very suitable for tablets with fruit flavors. Lactitol is, like products like bakery, chocolate, ice cream, chewing gum sugar, also very appropriate for making peppermints or and other confections.The use of lactitol in direct com- breath fresheners by mixing it with mint oils and other fla- pression is a new application area. To meet all the vors. The sweetness of lactitol is 40 percent of saccha- demands for a direct compressible sweetener, a special rose. If a sweeter taste is desirable, lactitol can be easily granulated lactitol grade is developed. mixed with an intensive sweetener. The taste of a tablet is influenced by the solubility of the IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF LACTITOL ingredients. A better solubility means a faster flavor Lactitol has several properties, which are important for the release. Roughly, the polyols can be divided in two groups, quality of a compressed good. Hygroscopicity is important. group one being xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol and lactitol Hygroscopicity influences both the processing conditions which have the same solubility as sugar; and group two, as the shelf life of the final product. Figure 1 shows the mannitol and isomalt which are less soluble (Figure 4). water absorption of different polyols, at different relative humidities and 78°F (25°C) after seven days. Sorbitol is the TABULATING PROPERTIES OF LACTITOL most hygroscopic polyol. Lactitol has the lowest hygro- A direct compressible ingredient shortens the process scopicity at all the tested relative humidities. but also changes the tablet hardness profiles. With lac- Hygroscopicity is also important for the shelf life of the titol dc harder tablets can be achieved than with a nor- final product. Figure 2 shows the water absorption of mal lactitol grade. On average, harder tablets are

The Manufacturing Confectioner • March 1999 103