Properties of sugar, polyol, and polysaccharide water-ethanol solutions

Abstract

The solubility and viscosity of sugars (glucose, lactose, leucrose, maltose, raffinose, sucrose, and trehalose), polyols (maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol), and polysaccharides (β-cyclodextrin, dextrans, and inulin) in water and water-ethanol mixtures was investigated at 310 K. The increase in ethanol fraction caused a decrease in solubility in all cases. The viscosity of a 10 % (w/w) solution of any of those sugars was (1 to 1.25) mPa s except dextran solutions, which reached 5 mPa s. The viscosity of saturated solutions varied strongly from one compound to another even though the solubilities were similar. The metastable zone widths of sucrose, maltose, and lactose precipitated with ethanol were significantly larger than the one measured for mannitol. © 2007 American Chemical Society.