Tagatose is a sweetener that has almost 3 times less calories than traditional sugar and a low glycemic index, making it recommended as a he althy sugar replacement. The advantage of tagatose is also the fact that it can be used for baking cakes, including yeast. It is a sweetener recommended for people with diabetes, and research shows that it has healing properties.

In the times of the obesity epidemic and the fashion for he althy eating, we can more and more often buy low-calorie sweeteners in stores that replace sugar. One of the relatively new products on the market istagatose-sweetener , which is nearly 3 times less caloric than traditional sugar, can make it easier to control weight, and with this shows a pro-he alth effect.

Tagatose properties

Tagatose belongs to the group of simple sugars, similar to glucose and fructose. It is almost as sweet as sucrose (the main component of beet sugar and cane sugar) - it shows 92 percent. her sweetness. It also provides much less calories. 100 g of tagatose is 150 kcal, while traditional sugar - 400 kcal. It is also characterized by a low glycemic index (IG=7.5), does not rapidly increase blood sugar levels, therefore it is recommended for people with diabetes and those who are slimming.

100 g of tagatose equals 150 kcal, while traditional sugar - 400 kcal.

Tagatose is very similar in structure tofructose , but it is much less caloric than it. All because the human body is not adapted to digest tagatose and metabolizes it to a small extent. Only about 20 percent. tagatose is absorbed in the small intestine into the bloodstream, the vast majority of which is excreted unchanged in the urine, and only a few percent undergoes metabolism similar to fructose. 80 percent tagatosis passes to the large intestine, where it is used as a prebiotic, i.e. a nutrient for the beneficial intestinal microflora. In the large intestine, it is fermented by bacteria into short-chain fatty acids, which are then metabolized and absorbed. Therefore, tagatose has a beneficial effect on the composition and nutrition of the intestinal microflora, inhibits the multiplication of pathogenic bacteria, improves the functioning of the intestines, as well as the immune system strictlyrelated to the state of the intestinal microflora. Unlike polyols used for sweetening, such as the popularxylitolanderythritol , tagatose does not cause diarrhea.

Tagatose is not fermented by oral bacteria, therefore it does not cause cavities. It can be used in the production of chewing gums, toothpastes and mouthwashes.

Healing properties of tagatosis

Clinical trials confirm the great potential of tagatosis to be used in the pharmaceutical industry. Particular hopes are associated with the use of tagatose in the treatment oftype 2 diabetes- a disease that affects approximately 2 million people in Poland and is most often associated with obesity. Tagatose increases the amount of fibrinogen and erythrocytes in the blood - it can be used in the treatment of anemia and haemophilia. In animal studies, this sugar was found to increase fertility and positively affect the development of the fetus. The possibility of using tagatosis in transplantation in organ storage fluids is also considered, because tagatosis has a strong antioxidant and cell-protective effect.

Natural sugars - where to look for them? Look! [TOWIDEO]

Worth knowing

The available sweeteners are not pure tagatoses

Tagatosis can be found very rarely in nature. It occurs naturally in Sterculia setigera trees growing in South Africa, in small amounts in UHT milk, some cheeses and yoghurts. For industrial purposes, however, these sources are not used for the production of tagatose. It can be produced by chemical or enzymatic methods. Both methods are very expensive, multi-stage and often the production of tagatose turns out to be unprofitable. At the Department of Microbiology of the Gdańsk University of Technology, a one-step biotechnological method of tagatose production has been developed, which reduces production costs.

In all methods of tagatose production, the starting product is lactose - milk sugar composed of glucose and galactose - obtained from whey, i.e. waste from the dairy industry. As a result of complex chemical or enzymatic transformations, galactose is transformed into tagatose - the final product. Few companies are involved in the production of tagatose due to the cost-effectiveness of the process. In the European Union, you can buy "Tagatesse" - a sweetener from a Belgian company that has been producing tagatose since 2006 as the only one in Europe. "Tagatesse" is not pure tagatose, but a mixture of sweeteners with the following composition: tagatose, isom alt, actilight®, dietary fiber: inulin, oligosaccharides, sucralose.

Tagatoza - use in the kitchen

You can tagatosisuse in the kitchen to sweeten drinks and desserts, hot sauces and fruit or chocolate mousses, caramelize vegetables and fruit, and as an addition to cakes, including yeast cakes. This sugar is resistant to high temperatures, and unlike natural sweeteners such assteviaand xylitol, it caramelizes and ferments, so it can be a breeding ground for yeast growth during baking. The manufacturer on the packaging of the "Tagatesse" sweetener, so far the only sweetener with tagatose available on the Polish market, recommends baking cakes with its addition a little longer and at a lower temperature - up to 170 ° C. Due to the longer baking time for the last 10 minutes, it is worth covering the dough with aluminum foil so that it does not brown too much.

Important

It is worth remembering that "Tagatesse" is not pure tagatose but a mixture of sweeteners - its sweetness is twice as high as that of sugar. The sweetener comes in several forms: crystals, cubes and tablets. When using crystals, use half as much as sugar, and one teaspoon of sugar corresponds to one sweetener cube or tablet.

Is it worth sweetening with tagatosis?

To sum up - tagatosis can be said to be another he althy alternative to traditional sugar: low in calories, with a very wide range of applications, and above all recommended for people suffering from diabetes. Its consumption gives not only the pleasure derived from its sweet taste, but also he alth benefits, especially supporting the functioning of the intestinal microflora. Unfortunately, we can choose products from only one manufacturer, which in addition do not contain pure tagatose, which may be a disadvantage for many people.

Another disadvantage is the fairly high price of the tagatose. A half-kilogram package of "Tagatesse" sweetener, which contains about 40 percent. tagatoses, costs PLN 30-40.

Category: