Category: sweetener
Aliases: E968, meso-Erythritol, (2R,3S)-Butane-1,2,3,4-tetraol, Butane-1,2,3,4-tetraol, 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol, Erythrite, Tetrahydroxybutane
Four-carbon sugar alcohol (the meso reduction product of erythrose) produced industrially by yeast fermentation of glucose. Roughly 60–70% as sweet as sucrose with a near-zero glycemic and insulinemic response: it is not a substrate for intestinal disaccharidases, hexokinase, or the glycolytic enzymes, so unlike [[glucose]] or [[sorbitol]] it yields essentially no metabolizable energy. Its small molecule is uniquely well absorbed in the small intestine (~90%), then excreted unchanged in urine; the small colonic fraction is only partly fermented, so it causes markedly less osmotic diarrhoea and gas than higher-MW polyols. Endogenous trace amounts also arise from the pentose-phosphate pathway. Acts as a bulk sweetener and humectant; mild oral non-cariogenic effect since oral bacteria cannot ferment it.