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Corn syrup
 
 
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Corn syrup is a syrup
Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals....
, made using cornstarch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
 as a feedstock, and composed mainly of glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
. A series of two enzymatic
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
 reactions are used to convert the corn starch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
 to corn syrup. Its major uses in commercially-prepared foods are as a thickener, sweetener, and for its moisture-retaining (humectant
Humectant

A humectant is a hygroscopic Chemical substance. It is often a molecule with several hydrophilic groups, most often hydroxyl groups, but amines and carboxyl groups, sometimes esterified, can be encountered as well; the affinity to form hydrogen bonds with molecules of water is crucial here....
) properties which keep foods moist and help to maintain freshness.

Corn syrup is used to soften texture, add volume, prohibit crystallization and enhance flavour.






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Encyclopedia


Corn syrup is a syrup
Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals....
, made using cornstarch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
 as a feedstock, and composed mainly of glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
. A series of two enzymatic
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
 reactions are used to convert the corn starch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
 to corn syrup. Its major uses in commercially-prepared foods are as a thickener, sweetener, and for its moisture-retaining (humectant
Humectant

A humectant is a hygroscopic Chemical substance. It is often a molecule with several hydrophilic groups, most often hydroxyl groups, but amines and carboxyl groups, sometimes esterified, can be encountered as well; the affinity to form hydrogen bonds with molecules of water is crucial here....
) properties which keep foods moist and help to maintain freshness.

Corn syrup is used to soften texture, add volume, prohibit crystallization and enhance flavour. As it can be produced domestically at lower cost, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup

High-fructose corn syrup ? called isoglucose in Europe and glucose-fructose in Canada ? comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to increase its fructose content, and then been mixed with pure corn syrup ....
 are often used in place of sugar in American-made processed and mass-produced foods, candies, and sodas to help control costs.

The more general term glucose syrup is often used synonym
Synonym

Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy....
ously with corn
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
 syrup
Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals....
, since the former is most commonly made from corn starch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
. Technically, glucose syrup is any liquid starch hydrolysate
Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which one or more water are split into hydrogen and hydroxide ions which may go on to participate in further reactions....
 of mono, di, and higher saccharides and can be made from any sources of starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
; wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
 and potatoes are the most common sources.

Glucose syrup and dextrose are produced from number 2 yellow dent corn. When wet milled, a bushel
Bushel

A bushel is a unit of dry measure, usually subdivided into eight local gallons in the systems of Imperial units and U.S. customary units. It is used for volumes of dry measure commodity, not liquids, most often in agriculture....
 of corn will yield an average of 31.5 pounds of starch, which in turn will yield about 33.3 pounds of glucose syrup, or dextrose. Thus, it takes about 60 bushels of corn to produce one short ton of either glucose syrup or dextrose.

The viscosity and sweetness of the syrup depends on the extent to which the hydrolysis reaction has been carried out. To distinguish different grades of syrup, they are rated according to their "dextrose equivalent" (DE).

Glucose syrup and dextrose were the primary corn sweeteners in the United States prior to the expansion of High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) production. HFCS is a variant in which other enzymes are used to convert some of the glucose into fructose
Fructose

Fructose is a simple Reducing sugar sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose....
. The resulting syrup is sweeter and more soluble. Corn syrup is also available as a retail product. The most popular retail corn syrup product in the United States is Karo Syrup, a fructose/glucose syrup.

See also

  • Mizuame
    Mizuame

    is a sugar substitute from Japan which is translated literally to 'water candy'. A clear, thick, sticky liquid, it is made by converting starch to sugars....
  • High-fructose corn syrup


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