Tagatose is a functional sweetener. It is a naturally occurring monosaccharide, specifically a hexose. It is often found in dairy products, and is very similar in texture to sucrose (table sugar) and is 92% as sweet, but with only 38% of the calories.
Tagatose is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FAO/WHO and has been since 2001.
Since it is metabolized differently from sucrose, tagatose has a minimal effect on blood glucose . Tagatose is also approved as a tooth-friendly ingredient.
D-Tagatose is a natural sweetener present in only small amounts in fruits, cacao, and dairy products. Tagatose can be commercially produced from galactose through an enzymatic process, starting with lactose which is hydrolyzed to glucose and galactose. The galactose is isomerized under alkaline conditions to tagatose by calcium hydroxide. The resulting mixture can then be purified and solid tagatose produced by crystallization.
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