Xylose Sweetener Molecular Model
SKU: 68799W
Xylose is a 5 carbon aldopentose monosaccharide, a sugar with an aldehyde functional group. Xylose is a non-digestible sugar in humans & popular with diabetics as a sweetener in food and beverages. It can be used as a medical diagnostic tool known as a "xylose absorption test" and the amount excreted in urine can be used to assess the function of the small intestine.
Xylose is the second most abundant sugar found in nature & is found mainly in plant cell walls of edible plants as part of hemicellulose. It connects cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectic polysaccharides within plant cell walls. This in turn contributes to biomass and is a potential source for biofuels.
It is a low calorie sweetener with similar sweetness to table sugar but with low impact on blood sugar levels. Xylose can also be reduced to the sugar alcohol xylitol which is popular as a low-calorie sweetener in chewing gum and candies.
Typical yeast stains cannot ferment xylose but genetically modified ones can. It might also be useful in promoting beneficial gut bacteria when taken as a probiotic.
Indigo Instruments has maintained a substantial inventory of genuine Cochranes of Oxford (Orbit) parts for 30+ years (scroll down to see "Skeletal (Orbit/Minit) and are compatible with every molecular model kit we have sold since day 1. This level of quality may appear expensive but no parts support from other vendors costs even more.
