D-Psicose, a rare sugar that provides no energy and additionally beneficial effects for clinical nutrition.
D-Psicose (D-ribo-2-hexulose), a C-3 epimer of D-fructose, is a "rare sugar" present in small quantities in commercial mixtures of D-glucose and D-fructose obtained from the hydrolysis of sucrose or isomerization of D-glucose. Because of the very small amounts of D-psicose in natural products, few studies of D-psicose metabolism in mammals have been conducted. Recently, we developed a new method to produce D-psicose enzymatically on a large scale, making it possible to conduct scientific studies. In this study, we examined (1) the metabolic effects of D-psicose, (2) the available energy of D-psicose and (3) acute and subchronic toxicity to gather basic data regarding the safety of using as a new sugar substitute. (Experiment 1) We investigated the absorption and excretion of D-psicose when orally administrated (5g/kg body weight) to Wistar rats, and the fermentation of D-psicose was measured as cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) when fed to rats in controlled diets (0-30%). Urinary and fecal excretions of D-psicose over the 24 h were 11-15% of dosage for the former and 8-13% of dosage for the latter. Rats fed on D-psicose diets showed SCFA production. (Experiment 2) Wistar rats received 7 g daily of a basal diet to which fixed amounts of D-psicose (0.5-2.0 g) were added for 20 days. Body energy gain did not increase with D-psicose. One gram of D-psicose produced a net energy gain of 0.007 kcal and the energy value of D- psicose was effectively zero. (Experiment 3) Wistar rats were orally given D-psicose in dose of 8-20 g/kg. The calculated LD50 value was 16.3 g/kg. Another Wistar rats were fed diets containing 0-40% of D-psicose for 34 days. Body weight gain and food intake were more extensively suppressed by the higher D-psicose diets. These results suggest that D-psicose displays nutritional characteristics unlike other monosaccharides such as D-glucose or D-fructose and provides no energy for growth. D-Psicose is not a toxic sugar but should be used carefully, if at all, as a dietary fiber-like substance or sweetener in food manufacturing.[1]References
- D-Psicose, a rare sugar that provides no energy and additionally beneficial effects for clinical nutrition. Matsuo, T., Izumori, K. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition. (2004) [Pubmed]
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