What is erythritol sweetener

Nausea and headaches may occur as well. The latter symptom is often a result of excessive diarrhea because the body is dehydrated. The laxative effect the substance is known for is true of all sugar alcohols. You must consume a significant amount of erythritol to experience these effects.

One study found consuming about half a gram of the sweetener per pound of body weight is safe and will not result in side effect issues. Generally, you have to consume more than 18 grams to experience problems. However, no two human bodies are alike, so while ingesting 18 grams or more of the substance may affect you, it might not affect your friend or neighbor.

Yet another potential complication this sweetener presents is overeating. Because it is not digested by the body, it may trick your brain into thinking you are still hungry.

Since the side effects of this substance depend on the dose, the dangers are relative to the amount ingested. How sensitive you are to the artificial sweetener and sugar alcohols, in general, may result in anything from mild gastrointestinal discomfort to severe nausea and diarrhea. It does not take long for the body to become dehydrated if diarrhea is continuous, which is why some people with food poisoning end up in the hospital.

For this reason, a very high intake of erythritol may cause some digestive side effects. When healthy people are given erythritol, there is no change in blood sugar or insulin levels. There is also no effect on cholesterol, triglycerides or other biomarkers 8. For those who are overweight or have diabetes or other issues related to the metabolic syndrome, erythritol appears to be an excellent alternative to sugar.

Erythritol does not raise blood sugar levels. This makes it an excellent sugar replacement for people with diabetes. Studies in diabetic rats show it acts as an antioxidant, possibly reducing blood vessel damage caused by high blood sugar levels 9. Another study in 24 adults with type 2 diabetes found that taking 36 grams of erythritol every day for a month improved the function of their blood vessels, potentially reducing their risk of heart disease However, erythritol is not without controversies.

One study linked high blood erythritol levels to fat gain in young adults More studies are needed before any claims can be made about the health relevance of these findings. Erythritol acts as an antioxidant and may improve blood vessel function in people with type 2 diabetes. These benefits may potentially reduce the risk of heart disease, but more studies are needed. One common adverse side effect of excessive sugar intake is poor dental health, cavities and tooth decay.

The harmful bacteria in the mouth use sugar for energy. In the process, they release acids that erode tooth enamel. Xylitol and erythritol also suppress the growth of bacteria directly Multiple studies have examined the effects of erythritol on cavities, and the results are mixed. Some studies show a reduction in plaque and harmful bacteria, while others show no reduction in cavities 13 , 14 , But according to a three-year study in school children, erythritol was even more protective against dental caries than xylitol and sorbitol Erythritol as sugar replacement can be found as tabletop sweetener, in beverages, chewing gum, chocolate, candies, and in bakery products de Cock Due to its mild sweetness, it allows a volume-for-volume replacement of sugar, whereas for example, sucralose that has a much higher sweetness needs fillers and even then has a noticeably different texture in baked products.

With regard to sucralose, it also needs to be considered that it is a chemically synthesized substance that does not naturally occur in nature. As a consequence, it currently accumulates in the environment due to the lack of sufficient natural degradation mechanisms Lubick Polyols are commonly used within the personal care industry like the cosmetic or toiletries sector. They are more and more incorporated as excipients in the manufacture of care products like toothpaste, mouthwashes, creams and lotions, make-up, perfumes, or deodorants.

Due to its humectant function as well as its pleasant taste, its sweetness and its non-cariogenic properties, erythritol can be used as base for toothpaste and mouthwash recipes EPA European association of polyol producers It gives toothpastes the required viscosity and humectancy. Additionally, erythritol inhibits the growth of Streptococcus mutans and acts as caries limiting in combination with xylitol de Cock et al.

Further, it was found that a 3-year consumption of erythritol-containing candies by 7- to 8-year-old children resulted in reduced plaque growth, lower levels of plaque acetic acid, and propionic acid Grembecka ; Runnel et al. Erythritol can be used in a wide range of solid and liquid formulations, including granulated powders, tablets, tablet coating, consumer-friendly lozenges, medicated chewing gum, syrups, and as mentioned before, as oral care products Michaud and Haest For pharmaceutical use, its interaction with water and its high stability in temperature and in acid or alkaline environments is a key Grembecka Because of its properties, erythritol as excipient offers good flowability and stability, making it an ideal carrier for actives in sachets and capsules.

More and more active ingredients are derived from biotechnological processes, which are often very efficient but also extremely reactive. Using the non-reducing sugar erythritol instead of lactose, which is the most commonly used pharmaceutical excipient, the unwanted reaction between the amino groups of the active and the reducing sugar can be prevented.

Therefore, lactose is more often being replaced by erythritol. Besides this, non hygroscopic polyols need to be used when a very water-sensitive active has to be reformulated EPA European association of polyol producers To extract erythritol from its natural sources, like fruits or vegetables, is not practical because of their low erythritol contents. And in contrast to the other polyols, erythritol is not favored being produced via chemical synthesis.

The needed high temperatures as well as the nickel catalyst result in a cost-ineffective reaction with a low product yield Park et al. When in , traces of erythritol were found in the residue of Cuban blackstrap molasses fermented by yeast, a flourishing new possibility opened up: the biotechnological production of erythritol Deng et al. Process parameters for erythritol production of the discussed genetically modified microorganisms.

The production of erythritol was first observed in yeasts and yeast-like fungi. However, at the very beginning, it became clear, that although the production of erythritol is inherent in yeast, the fermentation conditions influence the yield in a large scale Hajny et al. To understand the connection between metabolism and the fermentation parameters used, it is important to have a look at the natural production of erythritol in yeast. Erythritol is produced via the pentose phosphate pathway, in which d -erythrosephosphate is dephosphorylated to d -erythrose and then reduced to erythritol.

This pathway serves various purposes: the production and provision of reduction power in form of NADPH for cellular reactions, the production of precursors for the nucleotide and amino acid biosynthesis, and on its own as compatible solute to protect and stabilize enzymes facilitating cellular functions under osmotic conditions Brown ; Moon et al. Its function as osmo-protectant is the reason for using osmophilic yeasts such as Moniliella pollinis , Trichosporonoides megachiliensis , Aureobasidium sp.

They are mainly producing erythritol when encountering salt or osmotic stress Yang et al. However, unfavorable fermentation conditions can lead to the production of glycerol at the expense of erythritol formation because glycerol is the main osmolyte in yeasts. Consequently, the next important task was finding methods to increase the erythritol yield and minimize the reaction shift towards glycerol production. Two strategies, namely random mutagenesis and fermentation optimization, were implemented.

Random mutagenesis by UV and chemical mutagens revealed mutants producing more erythritol and less by-products than their parental strains due to improved activities and expression levels of key enzymes involved in the pentose phosphate pathway Park et al. Several high-yield mutation strains such as T.

Besides random mutagenesis, research moved further to targeted gene editing as more and more knowledge about the regulation of erythritol could be obtained. The HOG1 gene encodes a mitogen-activated protein kinase MAK that plays an important role in osmo-adaptation and therefore might influence the production of glycerol and erythritol. The created Trichosporonoides oedocephalis HOG1 knockout mutant produced 1.

Also, the glycerol production was decreased by Although erythritol-producing strains are able to convert glucose or fructose into erythritol, much higher productivities and yields were achieved by regulating the initial glucose concentration using a fed-batch fermentation with optimized media and vitamin or mineral supplementation Moon et al.

Optimizing the fermentation parameters, such as controlling the dissolved oxygen and stirring during the process, could reduce the undesired accumulation of glycerol Li et al. Additionally, the role of osmotic and salt stress became more important to improve erythritol yields. It was found that a DNA sequence corresponding to the putative response stress element within the erythrose reductase gene from C. This stress can be caused by high concentrations of sugar, potassium chloride, or sodium chloride in the fermentation broth Park et al.

Side by side, while the erythritol production methods were getting more polished and perfected, the search for other carbon sources than glucose or fructose as substrate began.

The yeast Yarrowia lipolytica can convert pure or crude glycerol into different substances including polyols Dobrowolski et al. Hence, recombinant strains of Y. Such approaches are exemplarily reflecting the trend of using inexpensive raw materials for the conversion into value-added products. In addition to inserting the SUC2 gene, metabolic engineering by overexpressing the GUT1 gene leads to sucrose and glycerol utilization with efficient erythritol production.

The GUT1 gene functions as glycerol kinase in the phosphorylative glycerol catabolic pathway in yeast. The enzyme is important for its ability to assimilate glycerol that somehow interferes with erythritol formation and complicates downstream processing Rakicka et al.

Even though, the strain has been genetically modified to produce more erythritol, the metabolic pathway in Y. Quite recently, another gene EYK1 , coding for an erythrulose kinase, was found to enhance erythritol production Carly et al. Not only the desire for more cost-friendly substrates but also the possibility to use other production host organisms than yeasts is growing.

The heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria Oenococcus oeni produces erythritol in an alternative pathway for NADPH reoxidation during anaerobic glucose metabolism Veiga-da-Cunha et al. The formation of erythritol differs from the synthesis in yeasts: glucosephosphate is converted into fructosephoshate.

After cleavage into erythrosephosphate and acetyl-phosphate, the erythrosephosphate is first reduced to erythritolphosphate and then dephosphorylated to erythritol Ortiz et al. Lactobacillus sanfranciscencis , another LAB strain isolated from sourdough, produces erythritol under stress conditions as an additional metabolic product Ortiz et al. An interesting aspect of using functional lactic starter cultures with the ability to produce polyols may be the production of novel fermented food naturally sweetened with these low-calorie sugars.

A totally different approach to improve sustainability in erythritol production was performed using a genetic engineered cyanobacteria strain: Synechocystis PCC Several characterized erythrose reductases and erythrosephosphatases from fungi were introduced into the genome of Synechocystis PCC The expressed enzymes can then convert erythrosephosphate into erythritol.

Erythrosephosphate is inherent and is built as a key intermediate of the CO 2 -fixing Calvin Benson Bassham cycle van der Woude et al. You can skip the freakout: A study from the science journal Food and Chemical Toxicology found no link between erythritol consumption and carcinogenic or cardiovascular risks.

The FDA has not set a daily limit or recommended daily amount, and Armul says artificial sweeteners in general are relatively safe to eat in large amounts. But as with any sugar alcohol or non-nutritive sweetener, it's important to use erythritol in moderation as part of a healthy, balanced diet, Armul says. People with sensitive stomachs, beware: Sugar alcohols like erythritol can cause gastrointestinal upset due to their lack of digestibility, Armul says.

If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, you may want to limit it to small amounts or avoid it altogether. For the normal consumer, you have to be eating a LOT of erythritol to experience these effects—like, more than 30 grams a day a.

If you're worried about the above-mentioned gassy side effects, the study recommends sticking to roughly 10 to 15 grams per day. Check the label on your favorite low-cal snack to get a sense of how much sugar alcohol it contains. According to the FDA , manufacturers can voluntarily list a product's sugar alcohol count on the nutrition label.

It's not required in most cases unless the product is making health claims related to sugar alcohols , so you won't see it on every food that has erythritol on its ingredients list. If it's included, you'll find it listed underneath the total carbohydrate count. If you don't see it, read the ingredient list to see how soon it appears. If it's one of the first ingredients mentioned, there's likely a decent amount of it per serving—so don't go overboard. Your tum will thank you.

As mentioned above, erythritol already comes in a lot of low-calorie, low-sugar foods. But you can also buy powdered or granulated erythritol and use it in your cooking or stir into your coffee.