High-maltose corn syrup (HMCS) is a
food additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives, such as vinegar ( pickling), salt ( salting), smoke ( smoking) and sugar ( crystallization), have been used f ...
used as a
sweetener and
preservative
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...
. The majority of sugar is
maltose
}
Maltose ( or ), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) bond. In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α(1→6) bond. Maltose is the tw ...
. It is less sweet than
high-fructose corn syrup and contains little to no fructose.
It is sweet enough to be useful as a sweetener in commercial food production, however.
To be given the label "high", the syrup must contain at least 50% maltose.
Typically, it contains 40–50% maltose, though some have as high as 70%.
By using
β-amylase or fungal
α-amylase, glucose syrups containing over 50% maltose, or even over 70% maltose (extra-high-maltose syrup) can be produced.
This is possible because these enzymes remove two glucose units, that is, one maltose molecule at a time, from the end of the starch molecule.
Uses
High-maltose corn syrup is used as a substitute for normal glucose syrup in the production of hard candy: at a given moisture level and temperature, a maltose solution has a lower viscosity than a glucose solution, but will still set to a hard product. Maltose is also less
humectant than glucose, so candy produced with high-maltose syrup will not become sticky as easily as candy produced with standard glucose syrup.
Since maltose syrups (like all sugar syrups) have a low freezing point, HMCS is useful in frozen desserts.
It is also used in
brewing
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
because it has a balanced fermentability, can be added at high concentrations to the
wort kettle, increasing throughput, and reduces haze caused by varying malt quality.
Another of HMCS's uses is to preserve food. According to the
Center for Science in the Public Interest
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a Washington, D.C.–based non-profit watchdog and consumer advocacy group.
History and funding
CSPI is a consumer advocacy organization. Its focus is nutrition and health, food safety ...
, HMCS preserves food by inhibiting fermentation and bacterial growth.
Health effects
In recent years, HMCS has seen an increase in use as a food additive due to the
negative reputation of HFCS.
High-maltose syrups produced from
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
are gluten-free, but certain syrups produced from wheat or barley may contain small amounts of gluten.
It is unclear whether gluten occurring in wheat- or barley-based syrup can have significant effects in
celiac disease
Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spel ...
.
See also
*
List of syrups
References
{{Sugar
Corn-based sweeteners
Syrup