INTRODUCTION

DMH is moderate in sweetness. It is 65-70% as sweet as sucrose and has a solution which is much less viscous than Liquid Glucose. DMH is freely soluble in water at room temperature and also in boiling alcohol.

The perceived sweetness can be increased to the level of sucrose in some Dextrose/Sucrose blends. Dextrose has a greater depression of freezing point than that of cane sugar, resulting in a smoother and creamier texture of the final products namely frozen food products. The bulk density of DMH is 0.65 to 0.70 kg/cc.

Chemically, DMH has reducing properties due to open chain aldehyde form which exists in equilibrium. In acidic solution, DMH yields condensation products such as maltose and gentibiose and in alkaline solution it isomerizes to fructose and its compounds. When oxidised with dilute alkali, DMH gives gluconic acid and with nitric acid it gives saccharide tartaric and oxallic acids. DMH on hydrogenation yields a mixture of glycols such as sorbitol.

DMH is a good source of commercial carbon-dioxide as it is 100% fermentable in nature. It is an important ingredient of microbial feed for the synthesis of antibiotics.