Difference Between Corn Syrup and Liquid Glucose

Edited by Diffzy | Updated on: April 30, 2023

       

Difference Between Corn Syrup and Liquid Glucose

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Introduction

Natural sweeteners like corn syrup and liquid glucose are used in food dressing. They both have an equivalent quantity of sugar in them. Corn kernels, which are later turned into corn starch in the process, are used to make corn syrup, whereas liquid glucose is often produced via the starch hydrolysis process. Natural added sweeteners like glucose syrup and corn syrup are sourced from plants. Although glucose syrup is not always derived from maize, corn syrup can be a kind of glucose syrup. Although numerous plants can be used to make liquid glucose, corn and wheat are commonly used in their production.

Corn has naturally present sugars, much like other fruits and vegetables. Although it is not a naturally occurring sugar, corn syrup is a natural sweetener. The Food and Drug Administration describes this item as an added sugar manufactured from maize starch (FDA). Large chains of glucose are essentially what is used to make corn starch. Liquid corn syrup is created when glucose molecules are separated into various components. Since glucose is a component of starch, maize syrup also contains only glucose. As a result, some items containing glucose syrup can be corn syrup.

Additionally, you're probably familiar with goods like high-fructose corn syrup. This product contains both glucose and fructose in equal amounts. Products containing high-fructose corn syrup are either 42 or 55 percent fructose, according to the FDA. All that's left of these items is still just water and glucose. Notably, high-fructose corn syrup and glucose syrup are not interchangeable terms.

Corn Syrup Vs. Liquid Glucose

The fundamental distinction between corn syrup and liquid glucose is that the former is produced from maize kernels, while the latter is produced by hydrolyzing starch. When comparing costs, liquid glucose is less expensive than corn syrup since it is simpler to make than corn syrup. Maize starch is produced by turning corn kernels into corn syrup, a natural sweetener. Boiling or dilution with acids is two methods that might be used to carry out this operation. The syrup can be either light or dark, depending on how it is made.

The general term for the saccharide solution is liquid glucose. This makes use of raw ingredients like rice or maize. The starch is then created by diluting it with the answer. As a result, aqueous syrup with a yellowish hue and no odor is liquid glucose. Due to its favorable crystallization and sweetness reduction qualities, liquid glucose is employed in various applications.

Difference Between Corn Syrup And Liquid Glucose in Tabular Form

Parameter Of Comparison Corn Syrup  Liquid Glucose
Developmental Process The cornstarch manufacturing process creates it. Starch is hydrolyzed to create it.
Source Materials Wheat Kernels Rice or Corn
Cost It usually costs more since it takes longer to prepare. Since it is simple to produce, it is typically less expensive.
Characteristics It is used in meals to give them a pleasant and sweet flavor. Excellent crystallization and sweetness-reducing qualities are present in it.
Glucose Level Although the proportion is lower than liquid glucose, it is made of glucose. It is glucose in its purest form.
Comparison The proportion of glucose in corn syrup is often lower. Compared to liquid glucose, which is a pure form of glucose

What Is Corn Syrup?

Heat and mild acid, or the addition of enzymes, cornstarch is hydrolyzed to generate corn syrup, a viscous sweet syrup. (Corn [maize] is a source of cornstarch.) Sometimes referred to as glucose syrup, corn syrup is generated from the hydrolysis of starches other than cornstarch, including wheat, potatoes, rice, and other plants. Commercial corn syrup is offered as either light or dark corn syrup. Light corn syrup, which has been clarified and dyed, is a common ingredient in jams, jellies, and many other foods. It is especially prized as a candy component since it does not crystallize when heated. Dark corn syrup, which is sweeter than light corn syrup, is created by mixing corn syrup, molasses, and caramel coloring. When a deeper color and a more distinct flavor are needed, Dark corn syrup is interchangeable with light corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn syrup, in which glucose is converted to fructose by adding the enzyme D-xylose isomerase. Because it is far less expensive than sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup is widely employed in the food sector, particularly in producing soft drinks.

Formation Of Corn Syrup

Regardless of the initial material, producing starch is necessary before making glucose syrup. Before you can get glucose syrup, the starch needs to be broken down, and the water needs to evaporate. Glucose is a liquid that is utilized in many different goods. It may be found in various pastries, sweets, jams, and ice creams. Even medicinal items like cough drops include glucose. Glucose syrup may enhance the texture and volume of meals, among other gastronomic qualities.

Additionally, it might increase the frosting or macaroons' gloss and sheen. It's not sweet enough to serve as a standalone sweetener, though. The most frequent combination with liquid glucose is sugar. Although it can seem odd to blend several sweeteners, glucose syrup has a lot of applications. For example, it can stop ice cream from crystallizing and jams or baked products from drying up, extending the shelf life of food.

Tips for Choosing Corn Syrup

  •  Commercial corn syrup is sold in supermarkets.
  • Corn syrup comes in two different colors: light, which is frequently used to make candies, and dark, which is better for baking.
  • Please look for the expiration date on the bottle or container.
  • Avoid purchasing the goods if it shows any signs of corrosion, leaking, bubbling, or spoiling.

Corn Syrup's Uses In Food

  • Corn syrup is a common sweetener in baked products, candies, frostings, jams, jellies, etc.
  • Cookies, rice Krispies, caramel snack mixes, nutritious bars, ice creams, and sorbets may all be made with corn syrup.
  • It is typical in cakes, cookies, fudge, and chocolates. Use equal proportions of honey or golden syrup, which is manufactured from cane sugar, as a replacement for light corn syrup.
  • Use equal portions of molasses or maple syrup if you want to replace the dark corn syrup.
  • Alternatives to corn syrup provide more sweetness and flavor to the cuisine.

Some Advantages Of Corn Syrup

  1.  When used as an ingredient, it gives culinary items adaptability: One of the most valuable substances on the market right now is high-fructose corn syrup. The sweetener provides meals with more texture, aids in maintaining their color, improves the flavor of various dishes, and aids in quality.
  1. It enables foods to produce greater degrees of browning: When opposed to utilizing granulated sugars, high-fructose corn syrup will offer baked goods a higher amount of browning since it reduces sugar. That implies the chemical makeup that encourages this attribute gives your dinner rolls, morning cereals, bread goods, cookies, and cakes a better aesthetic appeal.
  2. It provides a higher degree of freshness for the finished food product: When used as an ingredient, HFCS lowers the quantity of water activity in the food product, which prevents microbial deterioration. This benefit not only increases the product's shelf life but also enables the meals to taste better and stay fresher for a more extended period.

What Is Liquid Glucose?

A natural sweetener is also liquid glucose. It is a solution of saccharides in water, produced mainly by the hydrolysis of starch. Raw materials like corn and rice are utilized to make the starch, which is then used to make liquid glucose. You may accomplish this by diluting it with acids. Following cutting the raw components, they are concentrated and purified to create the necessary solids. Liquid glucose is an odorless, yellowish syrup. It is typically maintained under hygienic settings to prevent reactions with the other components. Liquid glucose usage and applications are many and dominant as a food additive product. HL Agro is one of the top makers and exporters of liquid glucose in India, although there are many other well-known companies. It is renowned for manufacturing liquid glucose of the highest food quality and other corn derivatives. In addition, the firm manufactures the highest grade bulk liquid glucose for various uses.

Liquid glucose is used in the crystallization process, among other things. After being added to the sweets to crystallize them, they are then placed in the refrigerator for storage. Additionally, liquid glucose can lessen the sweetness of candies and other sweets. For instance, this liquid solution is added to the recipe to reduce the quantity of sugar content if the sugar percentage is more significant. It resembles syrup in most ways because of its high viscosity.

Additionally, the syrup can improve transparency and brightness. Pharmaceuticals like bitter cough and vitamin-based syrups employ liquid glucose. The bitterness is eliminated, and the sweetness content is increased once the liquid glucose is introduced.

Benefits and Applications of Liquid Glucose

One of the products made from corn or maize starch, liquid glucose, is the syrup form of sugar. This derivative, also known as glucose syrup or confectioner's syrup, is created by hydrolyzing starch. The syrups used in confectionery may have varied proportions of maltose and glucose. Higher oligosaccharides may have approximately 10-43 percent of glucose content. Liquid glucose, which contains more than 90%, is used in industrial fermentation. There are many different applications and advantages of liquid glucose; to learn about a few of them, read the following material.

  1. Enhancer of flavor: Liquid glucose's primary and most important advantage is that it improves the taste of sweets and other meals.
  2. Crystallizing: The ability of corn syrup to prevent sucrose and dextrose crystallization in confections is another important use of the substance. It is mainly used in hard candies since sucrose-only sweets are susceptible to crystallization and may be fragile.
  3. Stabilizer: Additionally used as a stabilizer, liquid glucose significantly lengthens the shelf life of some goods. It assists in lowering the freezing point, which reduces the freeze time specified by the manufacturer. Additionally, it increases freezer capacity.
  4. Texturing agent: However, one of the crucial functions of liquid glucose is that it improves the texture of foods, giving ice cream and other frozen sweets a smoother texture and more body. In its simplest form, glucose syrup helps to prevent graining.
  5. Fermentation: The fact that Indian liquid glucose serves as a cost-effective supply of fermentable solids and is consequently a well-liked commodity in the baking business is another important use. In addition to controlling density, it also adds sweetness to baked goods. It is also in charge of enhancing the color of the crumb.
  6. Humectants: Some baked goods' degrees of humectant is raised by liquid glucose. This extends the shelf life of these goods even further. A glaze is applied to baked goods using icing made with glucose syrup because it gives the frosting a superior gloss and looks.
  7. Adjuncts: As an additive, corn syrup also provides several benefits. In essence, malted barley is added to the brewing process as an auxiliary. In addition to being wholly soluble and inexpensive, liquid glucose is also very flexible and straightforward to use. It is the perfect liquid for high gravity brewing techniques, which increases the total output and productivity of the brew house.

Main Differences Between Corn Syrup And Liquid Glucose in Points

  • While liquid glucose has uses in food and medicine, corn syrup is mainly used as a dressing alternative in food products. It is used in meals to reduce the amount of sweetness. Additionally, it is utilized in medications to lessen the bitterness.
  • While the hydrolysis of starch creates liquid glucose, corn syrup is produced through the breakdown of corn starch.
  • Since liquid glucose is simpler to make than corn syrup, which requires more effort to prepare, the price buffer for corn syrup is often higher. So, liquid glucose is less expensive.
  • Compared to liquid glucose, a pure form of glucose, the proportion of glucose in corn syrup is often lower.
  • In contrast to liquid glucose, which uses corn or rice as its primary material, corn syrup starts with the same corn kernels used to make corn starch. In contrast to liquid glucose, which uses corn or rice as its primary material, corn syrup starts with the same corn kernels used to make corn starch.
  • Corn has naturally present sugars, much like other fruits and vegetables. Although it is not a naturally occurring sugar, corn syrup is a natural sweetener. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration describes this item as an added sugar manufactured from maize starch (FDA).
  • Large chains of glucose are essentially what is used to make corn starch. Liquid corn syrup is created when glucose molecules are separated into various components. Since glucose is a component of starch, maize syrup also contains only glucose. As a result, some items containing glucose syrup can just be corn syrup.
  • Corn syrup contains both fructose and glucose. All that's left of these items is still just water and glucose. Notably, high-fructose corn syrup and glucose syrup are not interchangeable terms.

Conclusion

Both liquid glucose and corn syrup are employed to give meals a sweet flavor. Corn syrup is often used as a culinary flavoring for items like pancakes and waffles. Along with the honey combination, pancakes and waffles are served with syrup. It offers a pleasant flavor in addition to a good number of vitamins. The pharmaceutical industry uses liquid glucose to create cough and multivitamin syrups. They are bitter syrups. Adding liquid glucose reduces the syrups' proportion of bitterness. As a result, it gives it sweetness. In desserts with higher sweetness percentage, liquid glucose is also employed. As a result, it is used with sweets to lessen their sweetness. Since corn syrup is more challenging to manufacture than liquid glucose, both syrups have a distinct price buffer. Liquid glucose is therefore far less expensive than corn syrup.


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"Difference Between Corn Syrup and Liquid Glucose." Diffzy.com, 2024. Sat. 23 Mar. 2024. <https://www.diffzy.com/article/difference-between-corn-syrup-and-liquid-glucose-704>.



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