Sorbitol: Difference between revisions

'''Sorbitol''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɔːr|b|ᵻ|t|ɒ|l}}), less commonly known as '''glucitol''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|l|uː|s|ᵻ|t|ɒ|l}}), is a [[sugar alcohol]] with a [[sweet]] [[taste]] which the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by [[Redox|reduction]] of [[glucose]], which changes the converted [[aldehyde]] group (−CHO) to a primary alcohol group (−CH₂OH). Most sorbitol is made from [[potato starch]], but it is also found in nature, for example in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes.<ref name=Teo>{{cite journal | pmid = 17132742 | year = 2006 | last1 = Teo | first1 = G | last2 = Suzuki | first2 = Y | last3 = Uratsu | first3 = SL | last4 = Lampinen | first4 = B | last5 = Ormonde | first5 = N | last6 = Hu | first6 = WK | last7 = Dejong | first7 = TM | last8 = Dandekar | first8 = AM | title = Silencing leaf sorbitol synthesis alters long-distance partitioning and apple fruit quality | volume = 103 | issue = 49 | pages = 18842–7 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0605873103 | pmc = 1693749 | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America| bibcode = 2006PNAS..10318842T }}</ref> It is converted to fructose by [[sorbitol-6-phosphate 2-dehydrogenase]]. Sorbitol is an [[isomer]] of [[mannitol]], another sugar alcohol; the two differ only in the orientation of the [[hydroxyl]] group on carbon 2.<ref name="Kearsley, M. W. pp 249-249">Kearsley, M. W.; Deis, R. C. Sorbitol and Mannitol. In Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food Technology; Ames: Oxford, 2006; pp 249-249-261.</ref> While similar, the two sugar alcohols have very different sources in nature, [[melting point]]s, and uses. It has a pKa of 13.14 +/- .2<ref>SciFinderWeb</ref>