From processed foods to flavoured water, dextrose is a familiar name on ingredients lists.It’s also used by athletes to improve their performance.But what is dextrose? Is it a naturally-occurring substance or something man-made? Is dextrose sugar?Read on to find out all about dextrose.
What is dextrose?
Dextrose is what’s known as a simple sugar. Chemically speaking it only has one molecule (what’s known as a monosaccharide) – meaning it’s incredibly easy for the body to break down.
Dextrose is a starch-based sugar and is made from refined corn, rice, or wheat.
Dextrose is added to many foods, especially processed foods, to improve their taste.
Dextrose is also used by athletes for instant energy, and in healthcare settings to raise blood sugar and provide emergency hydration and energy.
What is dextrose used for?
- To improve the flavour of food and drink
You’ll see dextrose on the ingredients list of many different processed foods. Being intensely sweet in flavour, dextrose gives a pleasant taste and palatability to plain foods and cheaper ingredients. This helps explain the rise of dextrose in commercial food production.
It is also added to many savoury foods to help disguise high salt content, as the sweetness of the dextrose balances out a salty flavour.
- As a preservative
Cultured dextrose is a type of preservative which inhibits the growth of mould and yeast in food products, extending their shelf life.
Cultured dextrose was formerly known as preservative 280 (propionic acid) and is a by-product of sugar or milk fermentation alongside probiotic bacteria.
- In healthcare settings
As it’s so readily absorbed by the body, dextrose is able to provide rapid energy to patients without them needing to eat or drink. This is useful in intensive care settings, where it’s often used intravenously (IV) as part of partial or total parenteral nutrition.
Dextrose vs glucose
What’s the difference between dextrose and glucose?
There isn’t a real difference between the two sugars, which is why the terms are often used interchangeably. As previously mentioned, dextrose and glucose are chemically identical and behave the same way in the body.
The subtle difference between them is:
- Dextrose refers to the molecule as it appears in food, or as a powder or solution to betaken by mouth (e.g. tablets) or intravenously (e.g. via a drip in hospital)
- glucose refers to the molecule once it’s entered the bloodstream as blood sugar
In terms of where it sits on the sweetness scale, dextrose is less sweet than sucrose, fructose and glucose, but sweeter than lactose and maltose.
Dextrose with FIC
Dalian Future international Co., Ltd is a leading manufacturer and professional exporter of various kinds of chemicals. We are a professional supplier Of INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, FOODADDITIVES, FEED&FERTILIZER in China.Since 2010,we have already developed and established good business relationship with worldwide reputed customers.Based on the experienced and professional sourcing and trading business in chemical field, we can guarantee the quality and stability of goods.
Dextrose has always been one of the best-selling products of our company, we can provide Dextrose monohydrate or Dextrose anhydrous for our customer choose,whether it is in terms of price, quality, after-sales service, or our pricing system, we have been widely praised by customers. So far, we have conducted business with multiple countries in the Middle East, Asia, South America, and more,in the future, we will continue to provide the highest quality service and cost-effective products, truly achieving customer satisfaction and ourselves.
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