Metabolic and Nutritional Aspects of Xylitol

doi:10.1016/S0065-2628(08)60237-2

Advances in Food Research

Volume 25, 1979, Pages 159-180

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2628(08)60237-2 Get rights and content

Publisher Summary

This chapter discusses that xylitol is a five-carbon polyalcohol, pentitol, which is widely distributed in nature. Plants and fruits contain relatively large amounts of it but trace amounts of xylitol are also found in animals. Unlike glucose and galactose, xylitol is not actively transported through the intestinal mucosa. Although xylitol can enter almost all cells of an organism the liver cells are especially permeable. At the present time, it is believed that cost and gastrointestinal side effects prevent the use of xylitol as a major source of calories in oral nutrition. Xylitol has been recommended for parenteral nutrition for two reasons. First, amino acids do not react with sugar alcohols as they do with glucose. Second, it has been claimed that the tissues can use xylitol under postoperative and post-traumatic conditions in which considerable insulin resistance prevents the effective utilization of glucose. The use of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates, such as, sucrose is contraindicated for diabetics. A hemolytic anemia because of a deficiency of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in red blood cells is a fairly common hereditary disease in some parts of the world. Xylitol has been tested sporadically in the treatment of several diseases. The chapter discusses that the amount of xylitol which can be taken per os is limited by its slow absorption and the resulting osmotic diarrhea. In the human body, xylitol is both an endogenous metabolite of the uronic acid cycle and an exogenous source of energy.

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Cited by (89)

Harnessing xylitol utilization in Escherichia coli for antibiotic-free plasmid and recombinant protein production
2023, Biochemical Engineering Journal
Modern genetic medicine such as RNA vaccines are of increasing interest and many of these products require plasmid. There is an increasing interest in developing an antibiotic-free plasmid maintenance system which can potentially speed up clinical trial evaluation and increase product safety. We have previously reported that wild-type E. coli strain cannot utilize xylitol unless a single gene (xylitol dehydrogenase: gutB) was over-expressed. Chemically defined medium formulation was made possible with xylitol as the main carbon source. The present study focused on replacing the antibiotic resistance gene on plasmid with gutB (1056 bp) for maintenance in regular E. coli strains, DH5α and BL21DE3. Four plasmids with different replication origins (pMB1 and pAC) were constructed and selected using the xylitol-based, chemically defined medium. The workflow needs 24 h for colony formation and another 24 h for cell propagation in liquid medium. The plasmid titer and productivity were similar to that obtained using a conventional plasmid and the Luria-Bertani (LB) medium containing an antibiotic. The new plasmid system was also used to produce two recombinant proteins without antibiotics. One of the proteins (a polyethylene terephthalate hydrolase) had ∼5 times higher specific activity when it is produced using the new system compared with the conventional one. The new plasmid selection/maintenance method reported here could be useful to academic research and industrial bio-manufacturing processes.
Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to xylitol and its applications
2023, Valorization of Biomass to Bioproducts: Biochemicals and Biomaterials
In the 1930s, interest in commercializing xylitol as a sweetener began due to a shortage of sugar during World War II. Xylitol production started in Finland in the 1970s, after the development of mass-scale production of D-xylose by chromatographic separation of several woody hemicelluloses. After several studies evaluated the effectiveness of xylitol in reducing dental plaque in 1970, xylitol was widely researched and accepted globally as a natural sweetener approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More than 35 countries have approved the use of xylitol in food, pharmaceuticals, and health products, mainly in chewing gums, toothpastes, syrups, and confectionery. Regular xylitol consumption was defined as 5–7 g daily, making it ideal to ingest at least three times a day for human adults. In addition, it can be used clinically as a sugar substitute for diabetics. Xylitol is considered a “sugar-free” sweetener; it is the sweetest of polyols, being equivalent to sucrose in sweetness, but with fewer calories and a lower glycemic index. Its consumption causes effects of satiety, low glycemic response, and improved nutritional profile. Xylitol production is based mainly on chemical and enzymatic processes. However, each process has its advantages and disadvantages. Currently, the largest commercial production of xylitol is carried out chemically at elevated temperature and pressure. The disadvantage of this process is the low yield with high cost, in addition to some problems related to pollution that are associated with chemical processes. The sustainable alternative route to produce xylitol under environmental reaction conditions is through a biotechnological approach involving xylose reductase (XR). Biotechnological conversion routes provide many opportunities for intensifying the process, therefore, increasing the competitiveness of biorefineries. The biotechnological process for obtaining xylitol has been presented for several reasons; it is an excellent alternative to the conventional chemical method, because in addition to dispensing with the initial purification of xylose (converted into xylitol in the hydrolyzate itself), it can use specific enzymes or microorganisms, which act only in converting xylose to xylitol. Among the raw materials used in the production of xylitol, there are residues from food crops such as sugarcane bagasse, rice husks, wheat straw, cocoa bark and even wood crops such as eucalyptus and cashew bagasse.
Symptom assessment after nasal irrigation with xylitol in the postoperative period of endonasal endoscopic surgery
2022, Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology
Citation Excerpt :
Xylitol (1,2,3,4,5-pentahydroxypentane) is an open-chain polyalcohol with five hydroxyl groups, nontoxic and safe, according to the Food and Drug Administration.4 It has a sweetening power similar to sucrose – with 40% less calories – and is metabolized by the liver into glucose and glycogen or pyruvate and lactate.5 It is well tolerated, although there are no established maximum doses.
Chronic rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory condition of the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses that requires multifactorial treatment. Xylitol can be employed with nasal irrigation and can provide better control of the disease.
To evaluate the association between the effects of nasal lavage with saline solution compared to nasal lavage with a xylitol solution.
Fifty-two patients, divided into two groups (n = 26 in the “Xylitol” group and n = 26 in the “Saline solution” group) answered questionnaires validated in Portuguese (NOSE and SNOT-22) about their nasal symptoms and general symptoms, before and after endonasal endoscopic surgery and after a period of 30 days of nasal irrigation.
The “Xylitol” group showed significant improvement in pain relief and nasal symptom reduction after surgery and nasal irrigation with xylitol solution (p < 0.001). The “Saline solution” group also showed symptom improvement, but on a smaller scale.
This study suggests that the xylitol solution can be useful in the postoperative period after endonasal endoscopic surgery, because it leads to a greater reduction in nasal symptoms.
Effects of different stocking densities on tracheal barrier function and its metabolic changes in finishing broilers
2020, Poultry Science
Citation Excerpt :
It is widely distributed in nature (Mäkinen, 1979). In humans, xylitol is an endogenous metabolite of the uronic acid cycle and an exogenous energy source (Ylikahri, 1979). Xylitol has both food processing and pharmaceutical applications.
In the present study, we evaluated the effects of various stocking densities on the tracheal barrier and plasma metabolic profiles of finishing broilers. We randomly assigned 1,440 Lingnan Yellow feathered broilers (age 22 d) to 5 different stocking density groups (8 m⁻², 10 m⁻², 12 m⁻², 14 m⁻², and 16 m⁻²). Each of these consisted of 3 replicates. The interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-10 concentrations were substantially higher in the 16 m⁻² treatment group than they were in the 8 m⁻² and 10 m⁻² treatment groups (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, IL-4 did not significantly differ among the 5 treatments (P > 0.05). The tracheal mucosae of the birds in the 16 m⁻² group (high stocking density, HSD) were considerably thicker than those for the birds in the 10 m⁻² group (control, CSD). Relative to CSD, the claudin1 expression level was lower, and the muc2 and caspase3 expression levels were higher for HSD. Compared with CSD, 10 metabolites were significantly upregulated (P < 0.05), and 7 were significantly downregulated (P < 0.05) in HSD. Most of these putative diagnostic biomarkers were implicated in matter biosynthesis and energy metabolism. A metabolic pathway analysis revealed that the most relevant and critical biomarkers were pentose and glucuronate interconversions and the pentose phosphate pathway. Activation of the aforementioned pathways may partially counteract the adverse effects of the stress induced by high stocking density. This work helped improve our understanding of the harmful effects of high stocking density on the tracheal barrier and identified 2 metabolic pathways that might be associated with high stocking density–induced metabolic disorders in broilers.
Combined ultrafiltration and electrodeionization techniques for microbial xylitol purification
2019, Food and Bioproducts Processing
Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is biomass waste from crude palm oil industry that can be utilized for xylitol production. In recent years, xylitol production is dominated by a microbial fermentation method where the fermentation product contains many impurities, thus requires further purification and separation processes. In this work, ultrafiltration (UF) and electrodeionization (EDI) membranes were used for purification of xylitol from either model solution or OPEFB hydrolysate that has been fermented by Debaromyces hansenii. First, the optimum conditions for purification of xylitol from xylose, acetic acid, and salts in model solution using EDI were evaluated. The results showed that the optimum current density, concentrate flow rate, and diluate flow rate was found to be 22.5 A/m², 0.4 m/s, and 0.5 m/s, respectively. Meanwhile, validation experiment using the OPEFB hydrolysate fermentation broth showed that UF-EDI membrane configuration was able to remove 99% of microorganism and biomass, 99% pigment, >46% of xylose, and >99% ionic impurities including >90% acetic acid with a loss of xylitol about 30–50%.
Molecular strategies for enhancing microbial production of xylitol
2016, Process Biochemistry
Citation Excerpt :
d-Xylitol, a five-carbon polyol discovered by the German chemist Emil Fischer [1] has almost equal sweetness to sucrose, but with curtailed caloric content (2.4 vs. 4 cal/g for sucrose) [2]. Xylitol naturally occurs in fruits and vegetables, in very small quantity, and is also produced as a metabolic intermediate in adult human in the range of 5–15 g/day [3]. It has been widely used in dietary food products and pharmaceuticals because of its unique properties such as anticariogenicity, tooth rehardening and prevention of otitis and upper respiratory infections.
Xylitol, a five-carbon polyol, has been widely used as a sugar substitute in dietary, food, and pharmaceutical industries because of its unique properties such as anticariogenicity, tooth rehardening, and prevention of otitis and upper respiratory infections. Recently, its demand has increased because of the increasing health consciousness of consumers. Xylitol has been currently produced by chemical hydrogenation of xylose at commercial level. However, microbial production of xylitol is a promising approach involving action of microorganisms, as it is carried out in mild conditions, does not require pure xylose, and involves simpler downstream processing steps in contrast to chemical method. Many wild-type microorganisms are reported (e.g., bacteria, yeasts, and fungi) in the literature for xylitol production, among which yeasts are considered the best xylitol producers. Although environmental conditions such as carbon source, temperature, pH, inoculum, and aeration are known to affect xylitol accumulation, its productivity is reported to be considerably limited by factors such as cofactor regeneration, inefficient xylose transport system, and low-level expression of enzymes involved in metabolic pathways. This study aims at describing the diversity of microorganism used for microbial production of xylitol with main emphasis on molecular approaches applied at the cellular/molecular level for enhancing its yield and productivity.

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Metabolic and Nutritional Aspects of Xylitol

Publisher Summary

J. Biol. Chem.

Am. J. Med.

Biochem. Pharmacol.

J. Biol. Chem.

J. Biol. Chem.

Biochem. Med.

Metab., Clin. Exp.

Metab., Clin. Exp.

J. Biol. Chem.

Metab., Clin. Exp.

Glukose and Glukoseaustauschstoffe in der Infusions-therapie des operativen Bereiches

Non-glycolytic sugar metabolism in human erythrocytes. I. Xylitol metabolism.

J. Biochem. (Tokyo

Adaptive processes corcemed with absorption and metabolism of xylitol

Quantitative aspects of the metabolism of glucose, fructose, sorbitol and xylitol

Antiketogene Wirkung von Xylit bei alloxandiabetischen Ratten.

Klin. Wochenschr.

Die Bildung von Leber- und Muskelglykogen aus Xylit, Sorbit und Glucose bei gesunden und alloxandiabetischen Ratten.

Klim. Wochenschr.

Xylitstoffwechsel beim Menschen. Zur Frage der Eignung von Xylit als Zuckerersatz beim Diabetiker.

Klin. Wochenschr.

Xylitstoffwechsel und Xylitresorption. Stoffwechseladaptation als Ursache für Resorptionsbeschleunigung.

Biochem. Z.

Hemmung der Fettsäureoxydation als ein Faktor bei der antiketogenen Wirkung von Zuckern und Polyalkoholen.

Klin. Wochenschr.

Saccharin and other sweeteners: Mutagenic properties.

Science

The safety of oral xylitol

Orale Verträglichkeit von Xylit bei stoffwechselge-sunden Probanden.

Schweiz. Med Wochenschr.

Comparative metabolism of xylitol, sorbitol and fructose

Metabolism of glucose substitutes compared to that of glucose

Erhöhung von Serumharnsaure und Serumbilirubin nach hochdosierten Infusionen von Sorbit, Xylit und Fructose.

Klin. Wochenschr.

Factors influencing the rates of long-chain fatty acid oxidation and synthesis in mammalian systems.

Physiol. Rev.

The metabolism of xylitol

Comparative study of the metabolism of U- 14C-fructose, U- 14C-sorbitol and 14C-xylitol in the normal and in the streptozotocindiabetic rat

Eur. J. Clin. Invest.

Zur Frage einer Wirkung von Xylit auf die Insulinsekretion des Menschen.

Klin. Wochenschr.

Clinical effects of xylitol on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in diabetics.

Lancet

Incapability of L-ascorbic acid synthesis by insects.

Arch. Biochem. Biophys.

Serum lipids, uric acid and glucose during chronic consumption of fructose and xylitol in healthy human subjects

Vergleichende Untersuchungen über den stoffwechsel von Xylit, Sorbit und Fructose beim Menschen.

Schweiz. Med. Wochenschr.

Stimulation of insulin secretion by xylitol administration

Some recent observations on xylitol-induced insulin secretion

Comparative study of the metabolism of U- ¹⁴C-fructose, U- ¹⁴C-sorbitol and ¹⁴C-xylitol in the normal and in the streptozotocindiabetic rat