Research progress on sugar substitutes and human health / 环境与职业医学

Sugar reduction and restriction have become one of the most urgent health demands as the number of obese people increases globally. Sugar substitutes (mainly classified into sugar alcohols, natural sweeteners, and artificial sweeteners) have been widely used in food processing as alternatives to sugar for their low energy and high sweetness. Thus, the classification, metabolism pathways, advantages, applications, and human health effects of sugar substitutes, their effects on human health were introduced, and the relationships between sugar substitutes and obesity, diabetes, intestinal microbes, hypertension, and all-cause mortality were emphatically summarized in this paper. Generally, long-term high intake of sugar substitutes is associated with adverse health outcomes such as elevated blood pressure, higher risks of diabetes, cancer, and increased all-cause mortality. Meanwhile, sugar alcohols and natural sweeteners are more likely to associate with beneficial effects on human gut microbial diversity, while artificial sweeteners associate with imbalance of gut microbiota based on available evidence. Current published research focuses on single sugar substitute exposure with varied health effects, while nearly half of commercial sugar substitute products contain two or more sugar substitutes. The effects of exposure to multiple sugar substitutes on human health are not clear yet, so further strengthening the relevant epidemiological and molecular mechanism research is necessary.

Sugar substitutes and dental health

Sugar is one of the most widely consumed sweetening agents. Unfortunately, its use has been linked to various disease states, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM) and dental caries. Dental caries is a chronic disease which can affect us at any age. The role of sugar (and other fermentable carbohydrates such as highly refined flour) as a risk factor in the initiation and progression of dental caries is increasing day by day. Sugar substitutes are food additives that provide a sweet taste more or less similar to that of sugar and plays important role in control of dental caries.

Optimization of Production of Fructooligosaccride using Aureobasidium pullullans.

This present study focuses on the microbial production of Fructosyl Transferase (FTase) and the production of Fructooligosaccharides(FOS) by transfructosylation using this enzyme. Fructooligosaccharides are industrially produced from sucrose by microbial enzymes with transfructosylating activity. Fructosyltransferase is produced intracellulraly by fungi. In the present study fungus Aureobasidium pullulans was used to produce FOS and effect of different physical and chemical parameters on FOS production were studied. The analysis of the product was performed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

Fermentation of various sugars and sugar substitutes by oral microorganisms

Objective: To examine acid production of caries-associated strains of oral microorganisms and salivary microorganisms from sugar and sugar substitutes. Methods:Standard and clinical strains of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) and Candida albicans were incubated in peptone-yeast-extract media containing 1% test sugar (sucrose, glucose, fructose) or sugar substitutes (xylitol, sorbitol, trehalulose and palatinose) at 37 ℃in 5% CO2 for 24-48 h. The pH of each culture was measured and microbial growth was determined as optical density at 660 nm. Paraffin-stimulated saliva collected from high caries-risk persons were added to media containing 10%test sugar or sugar substitutes. The pH of medium was measured at each time interval from 0-90 minutes. Results:All types of sugar and trehalulose could be fermented by all test microorganisms in pH lower than 5.5 except sucrose by standard strain of L. casei. All sugar and sugar substitutes supported growth of all organisms except xylitol for S. mutans. In the fermentation assay by salivary microorganisms, all sugar could be utilized and produced pH< 5.5 within 10 minutes of incubation and the pH drop was prolonged to until 90 minutes. Conversely, xylitol and palatinose were not fermented by microorganisms in saliva. Conclusions:All test microorganisms could ferment sucrose, glucose, fructose and trehalulose to pH lower than 5.5. Sugar alcohols and palatinose were not utilized well by organisms and may be used as sugar substitutes to reduce dental caries incidence. However, further studies particularly clinical investigations are required to evaluate the cariogenicity of these sugar substitutes.