This might be a stupid question but what exactly is crystalline fructose? Is there a suitable substitute for it?
According to the Sugar Association, crystalline fructose develops when you take a “fructose-enriched corn syrup” (sounds suspiciously like high fructose corn syrup) and then allow this syrup to harden into crystal form. The result is a product that, according to fructose.org, is almost 100% fructose (a fructose made from corn syrup, not from fruit). It can be used in the same foods as the high fructose corn syrups, or in any food that contains sugar. It is reported that in its pure crystalline form, fructose has a perceived sweetness value of 160-180, compared to sucrose (table sugar) at 100. So, if you want to substitute sugar in its place, you will need to use roughly 1.6 to 1.8 times the amount of crystalline fructose used to achieve the same level of sweetness.
I happened to see crystalline fructose being sold in bulk at my local Whole Foods Market. You might try a similar market where you are or maybe a health foods store.
Your question as to suitable substitues for crystalline fructose should be evaluated against your particular goals for the product you are making. Do you desire to keep the nutritionals the same? The product characteristics? The shelf life? The gylcemic index? Etcetera.... Your point of view is helpful for properly evaluating the range of acceptable alternatives. There are often several alternatives but one would need to know the range of acceptable tradeoffs you are willing to accept.
If you approach the substitutability question from the point of view that desires keeping the finished product characteristics as close to the original product, the number of options are smaller (and often impractical) than if you are willing to accept some changes. Many sweetener products can be substituted for another but one should be prepared for various tradeoffs that become apparent when switching ingredients.
Sweetness is just one characteristic that you may or may not want to hold constant. If you decide that you want the sweetness to be the same, and you decide you want to use say, sucrose (sugar), you will need more sugar (sucrose) - that of course means that you will end up with more mass - that may be good or bad - that is for you to decide. There are a number of other things that will change for such a switch.
Crystalline fructose is +99 % fructose - roughly 1/2 the sucrose molecule that is 1/2 glucose & 1/2 fructose but typically (and commercially) the crystalline fructose is derived from corn (very simplified ---- corn to starch to syrup then dried) whereas sucrose is typically, though not always derived from sugar cane or sugar beets.
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