What is Maltodextrin?
Maltodextrin is what you get when you hydrolyze starch, either by acid or by enzymes. Starch is a polymer consisting of long chains of glucose molecules and one single fructose molecule.
The degree of hydrolization is expressed as the DE-value of the product. DE means Dextrose Equivalent and is inversely related to molecule size, i.e. the degree of polymerization (DP) and is an indication of how big a percentage of the starch molecule is converted to glucose molecules. This means in practise that starch can be converted to molecules with DE-values from 1 to 100 (pure starch has a DE of 0).
Definition
Products with DE-values from 6-19 are called ‘maltodextrins’, those with DE-values 20-91 are called ‘syrups’ – from corn we get ‘corn syrup’ – and DE-values from 92 to 99 are called total sugar (glucose/dextrose and total sugar). A value of DE-100 equals
glucose (dextrose), but to get it in pure form, it is necessary to remove the fructose by ion exchange.
Products with DE-values 6-38 are either dried in
conventional dryers for fine particle products, or in
MSD™ (Multi-Stage Dryers) for coarse and agglomerated products.
Products with values of DE-10 to DE-100 can be dried on a
FILTERMAT™ dryer resulting in a coarse, agglomerated powder.
Use of Maltodextrin The native starch molecule can differ in structure depending on the origin (corn/wheat, potatoes, tapioca, yarns, etc.) This together with the conversion method means that maltodextrines with same DE-value will differ in composition and functionality. This means that many of the suppliers have their own special ‘fingerprint’ in the products.
If e.g. a maltodextrin – with a DE of 15 – is made by dry-mixing pure starch with glucose, it will act differently in the final formulation and its subsequent drying, compared to a product, where the hydrolization process is stopped when the Dextrose Equivalent has reached 15.
The maltodextrines are used very much in the food and paper industries. In the food industry the different DE-values are chosen depending on taste, solubility, influence on viscosity and function as ‘carriers’ for different flavours and food-blends. A guideline is that lower DE-values are better ‘carriers’, but they are less soluble and have a ‘waxy’ taste, whereas higher DE-values are weak carriers, better soluble and sweet in taste. The most used maltodextrines have DE-values in the range of DE-10 to DE-20.