Production of Tagatose, Sugar Substitute
What is Tagatose?
- Tagatose is an isomer of galactose and a natural sugar that exists in fruits, milk, cheese, etc. Tagatose has diverse health functional characteristics and sweetness, which is very similar to sugar. Thus, it is a sugar substitute that is both healthy and tastes good when consumed.
- Tagatose has a sweet taste that is very similar to sugar, but its calorie is only 1.5kcal/g, 37.5% lower than sugar. Its glycemic index (GI) is 3, less than 5% that of sugar, which is 68.
- If a person takes tagatose after meals, it has been confirmed that his/her blood sugar slowly decreases. Thus, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recognizes its functionality and stability.
Eco-Friendly Production Method
- An environment-friendly production method, using enzymes, rather than the existing chemical synthesis method, is applied.
- We found a substrate with high-cost competitiveness and an enzyme with good conversion efficiency and applied them to the production.
Market Status
- According to a report conducted by Link Aztec, a market research organization, the domestic sugar retail market decreased 14.1% from KRW 166.4 billion in 2015 to KRW 143.0 billion in 2016. In addition, the domestic functional sugar market gradually increased from KRW 18,818.00 million in 2014 to KRW 27,739.00 million in 2015, and to KRW 27,063.00 million in 2016.
Commercialization
- It is proportional to the concentration and intake of tagatose. It has been analyzed that tagatose is helpful in controlling the blood sugar of people in general, the people who have trouble controlling their fasting blood sugar, the people who have impaired glucose tolerance, the people who have growth-onset diabetes, and patients with diabetes. In addition, it can be used as a raw material of functional foods and medicines to control the increase in blood sugar.
