| MadSci Network: Chemistry |
There are various measurements of a samples sweetness level. One of the oldest sweetness ratings is the comparison of the unknown sample in relative sweetness to that of sucrose (common table sugar).
Sucrose is rated at a 1.0 rating and all other sweeteners are rated either more (fructose 1.1-1.8, Aspartame 180) or less (maltose 0.4, lactose 0.4). A more analytical type of measurement of sugars is by a method based on reducing reactions of its aldehyde group (Lane Eynon general volumetric method) toward certain metallic salts. Basically the three common sugars associated with cane sugar and other "natural" based products are sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Glucose and fructose have a specific type of chemical makeup on the ends of their chemical chains, which are called aldehyde groups.
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R - C Aldehyde group (R = the rest of the molecule)
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An analysis is performed that reacts with these ends and
produces a change in color of the sample. This change in color indicates
a certain level of the
reducing sugars (glucose & fructose) in the
sample. The second part of the analysis gives us the total sugars
(glucose, fructose, and sucrose) of the sample and thus through
subtraction we can figure out the sucrose level. All these numbers and
any other type of analytical analysis are expressed in terms of the
percentage of the sugar in the sample being analyzed on an "as is" basis.
For example a typical analysis of a high quality molasses (80% solids)
gives us 36% sucrose, and 36% reducing sugars, meaning that in a sample
that is 80% solids, of that 80% we have 72% "sugars" while the remaining
8% are non sugar solids (ash, protein, minerals, etc).
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