Trehalose

About This Product

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide made of two glucose units linked head to head, formula C12H22O11, with CAS number 99-20-7. It occurs naturally in mushrooms, yeast, honey and in organisms that survive extreme dehydration, and is produced commercially by enzymatic conversion of starch. It is supplied as a white crystalline powder.

The head-to-head linkage between the two glucose units is what distinguishes it. Because both reducing groups are consumed in forming the bond, trehalose is non-reducing: it does not take part in the Maillard reaction, so it will not brown or develop off-flavours with proteins and amino acids during heating or storage. The same linkage is unusually resistant to acid and heat. Its most exploited property is protection during freezing and drying, where trehalose molecules substitute for the water around proteins and membranes and hold their structure intact; in practice this means less drip loss and better texture in frozen and freeze-dried foods, and reduced starch retrogradation, which slows staling in bakery. It is around 45 percent as sweet as sucrose with a clean, mild profile, and it suppresses bitterness and off-notes.

It is used in frozen and freeze-dried foods, bakery, confectionery, processed seafood and meat, dairy, beverages and cosmetics.

Bio Green Foods supplies trehalose to specification on assay, loss on drying, particle size, reducing sugars, pH and heavy metals.