Functional Category
Sweetening agent.
Applications in Pharmaceutical Formulation
Tagatose is used as a sweetening agent in beverages, foods, and pharmaceutical applications. A 10% solution of tagatose is about 92% as sweet as a 10% sucrose solution.(1) It is a low-calorie sugar with approximately 38% of the calories of sucrose per gram. It occurs naturally in low levels in milk products.(1) Like other sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose), it is also used as a bulk sweetener, humectant, texturizer, and stabilizer, and may be used in dietetic foods with a low glycemic index.(2,3)
Description
Tagatose is a white, anhydrous crystalline solid. It is a carbohydrate, a ketohexose, an epimer of D-fructose inverted at C-4. It can exist in several tautomeric forms.(4,5)
Stability and Storage Conditions
Tagatose is stable under pH conditions typically encountered in foods (pH > 3). It is a reducing sugar and undergoes the Maillard reaction. Tagatose is stable under typical storage conditions. It caramelizes at elevated temperature.
Incompatibilities
A Maillard-type condensation reaction is likely to occur between tagatose and compounds with a primary amine group to form brown or yellow-brown colored Amidori compounds. Reducing sugars will also interact with secondary amines to form an imine, but without any accompanying yellow-brown discoloration
Safety
Tagatose is safe for use in food and beverages. It has been used in pharmaceutical products.(1)