PRODUCTION OF FRUCTOSE AND USEFUL BY-PRODUCTS

摘要

A process for obtaining fructose solutions or solid fructose, a raw material containing sucrose and/or similar fructofuranosides is hydrolyzed to fructose and glucose and treated with a calcium base (e.g. calcium oxide or hydroxide) to precipitate calcium-sugar complexes. The precipitate is slurried in water and then treated with phosphoric acid to liberate (e.g. at a pH of 5.5 to 9) a fructose solution of high purity (i.e. de-complex the calcium-fructose complex), with precipitation of useful calcium phosphate salts. Phosphoric acid has been found to have significant advantages over carbonic acid or carbon dioxide as the fructose-liberating (de-complexing) agent, e.g. better yields and more useful by-products. Solid fructose can be obtained from the fructose solution in a known manner. The filtrate from the calcium-sugar complexing step can be acidified to yield stable, useful, fructose-depleted by-products.