Sorbitol Liquid Sweetener and Humectant Sugar Alcohol for Food, Beverage and Personal Care Applications, Bulk Wholesale Supply from a Reliable Supplier

Product Overview

Sorbitol Solution 70% is a clear, colourless, syrupy liquid built from a single hydrogenation step: D-glucose is hydrogenated until the carbonyl group is closed, and the resulting polyol (sugar alcohol) is concentrated to the 70% dry-substance band. The bulk of the molecule is D-sorbitol; the remainder is made up of closely related glycitols — mannitol, iditol and hydrogenated saccharides — whose proportions depend on the grade of the incoming glucose. That composition is what gives each grade its behaviour, and it is the reason a buyer should compare grades on a full panel rather than on a single headline number.

This page covers the crystalline grade, released against BP / USP / EP monographs. In this grade the D-sorbitol share is held high and the mannitol share low, so the solution behaves predictably in high-solids formulations — which is precisely why it is chosen wherever a formulator needs moisture held in place, a body without added bulk sugar, or a plasticising effect that survives storage.

What it does in a formulation

Sorbitol is roughly 60% as sweet as sucrose with about one-third fewer calories, and it carries a smooth mouthfeel with a sweet, cool and pleasant taste rather than a sharp sugar peak. Its practical value to a formulator is in four places:

Humectancy.

• It holds water in the product, so texture holds through the shelf life instead of drying out or hardening.

Body and mouthfeel.

• It adds solids and viscosity to liquids without the flavour profile of sucrose.

Plasticity and film formation.

• It keeps films, coatings and solid dosage forms from becoming brittle.

Crystallisation control.

• It interferes with sucrose and other sugar crystallisation, which is why it appears in soft confectionery, chewing gum and fillings.

Who buys this grade

Confectionery, bakery and beverage manufacturers; chewing-gum and oral-care producers; cosmetics and personal-care formulators; pharmaceutical manufacturers using it as an excipient; and industrial processors who use it as a humectant, plasticiser or as an intermediate for sorbitan esters, polysorbate-type surfactants and polyurethane polyols.

Product identity

Composition logic, stated plainly

Sorbitol for food and technical use is made by hydrogenating D-glucose. Whatever is not D-sorbitol is made up of related substances — mannitol, iditol and maltitol on the monomer side, hydrogenated oligosaccharides where a glucose syrup feedstock is used. A crystalline grade is produced so that the D-sorbitol share stays high and the mannitol share stays low; that balance is visible in the panel on this page, and it is the difference a formulator feels when crystallisation or mouthfeel is the constraint.

Technical Specification

How to read the panel

Reading the table in the order a formulator actually cares about it:

• Items 2–3 and 6 define how much of what you are buying. A 70% dry-substance floor with a matching specific-gravity floor means the product arrives at concentration, not as a diluted lot that must be evaporated before use.
• Item 4 (refractive index) and item 6 (specific gravity) are the two fast shop-floor checks a buyer can repeat on receipt with a refractometer and a density check. Both have a floor rather than a range, which is deliberate: the failure mode in bulk liquid supply is a weak lot, not an over-concentrated one.
• Item 5 (specific rotation) is the optical-identity control. A ceiling on optical rotation keeps the polyol distribution inside the expected envelope and screens out lots that have drifted towards other optical isomers.
• Item 7 (sorbitol, dry basis) with item 8 (mannitol) is the pair that defines the crystalline character. High D-sorbitol with a low mannitol ceiling is what separates this grade from a general-purpose non-crystallising syrup.
• Item 9 (resistivity) is an ionic-cleanliness control. It is the parameter that matters most to buyers whose own process is sensitive to carried-over salts from upstream processing — ion-exchange resin work, catalysis or simply a wet process line.
• Items 10–11 bound the reducing and total sugar content. These are the parameters that protect against colour development and off-flavour in heat-processed products.
• Items 12–18 are the metals, anions and ash envelope. They are the panel a buyer will be asked for by their own QA department when the material is used in a regulated or consumer-facing application.

Typical nutritional values

Indicative values per 100 g of sorbitol solution, for finished-product label calculations.

Typical Certificate of Analysis

Each lot leaves against the 18-point panel; the values below are the reported results for a representative released batch of the crystalline grade. They are reproduced here in the certificate's own reporting order so a buyer can line them up against the panel above without transposing rows.

Conclusion on the certificate: the results conform to the specification.

What the numbers say about the lot, in plain terms:

D-Sorbitol at 98.88% on dry basis with D-mannitol at 0.51%

• — the crystalline character is firmly established, with the mannitol by-product held far below its ceiling.

Resistivity at 0.07 µS/cm against a ≤20 µS/cm limit

• — the ionic load is negligible, which is the number ion-sensitive processes should be reading.

Refractive index 1.4653 and specific gravity 1.311

• — a full-strength lot at the top of the concentration band, not a minimum-pass.

Reducing sugars at 0.07% and total sugars at 0.20%

• — headroom under both ceilings for heat-processed applications.

Specific rotation at +4.70° against a ≤ +5.3° ceiling

• — comfortably inside the optical envelope.

Applications

The same 70% solution serves several industries, but it does a different job in each. The notes below are written by application, because that is how a formulator decides whether this grade fits.

Confectionery — soft candy, chewing gum, fillings and coatings

Sorbitol solution is used as a humectant and crystallisation-control agent. In starch-moulded and gelatin-based soft candy it holds moisture through the shelf life so the piece stays soft instead of hardening at the surface. In chewing gum it contributes to the gum base's softness and to a long-lasting cool sweetness. In fillings and fondants it interrupts sucrose crystallisation, which is what keeps the texture smooth rather than grainy.

Bakery — moisture retention and crumb softness

Added to cake, biscuit and pastry systems, it slows staling by holding water in the crumb. Because it does not bring the browning behaviour of a reducing sugar, it is also used where a formulator wants to hold moisture without pushing colour development.

Beverages and liquid systems — body without added bulk sugar

In syrups, concentrates and ready-to-drink systems it supplies mouthfeel and body with a cool rather than cloying sweetness, and it acts as a carrier and stabiliser for flavours and colours in the liquid phase.

Dairy and frozen desserts — texture control

Used in dairy and frozen-dessert formulations, it limits ice-crystal growth so that texture stays fine across freeze–thaw cycles, and it keeps the product from becoming excessively hard.

Oral care — toothpaste and mouthwash

Sorbitol solution is a standard humectant and sweetener in toothpaste. It keeps the paste from drying or hardening in the tube, contributes to a smooth rheology, and provides sweetness without sucrose. It is equally used in mouthwash and other oral-care liquids, where clarity and low colour are the requirements.

Cosmetics and personal care — humectant and plasticiser

In creams, lotions, toners and gels it is a humectant; in films, masks and solid sticks it acts as a plasticiser. Being miscible with water, glycerol and propane-1,2-diol, it drops into existing humectant blends without compatibility work.

Pharmaceutical excipient use

In oral liquid and solid dosage forms, sorbitol solution is used as a sweetener, humectant, diluent and plasticiser, and as a vehicle component where a non-sucrose base is needed. The crystalline grade on this page is released against BP/USP/EP monographs, and the batch certificate is available to support a buyer's own incoming-material qualification.

Industrial use — humectant, plasticiser and intermediate

Outside food and personal care, the same liquid is used as a humectant in adhesives and tobacco processing, as a plasticiser and stabiliser, and as a starting material for sorbitan esters and polysorbate-type surfactants and for polyurethane polyol systems. In these routes the ionic-cleanliness and sugar-content limits on the panel are the parameters that decide whether the material runs cleanly in the downstream reaction.

Quality Control

Quality is handled as a release gate rather than a marketing statement. Three points matter to a buyer auditing this product.

1. Every lot is released against an 18-point panel, with three-level approval

Each batch certificate carries a full 18-point result set — appearance, dry substance, water, total and reducing sugars, sorbitol and mannitol, resistivity, refractive index, specific gravity, chloride, iron, nickel, arsenic, sulphated ash, sulphate, heavy metals and specific rotation. The certificate is signed off at three levels on the manufacturer's side: analyst, checker and supervisor. A lot is not released on a partial panel, and the result values are reported per parameter, not summarised into a single pass/fail line.

2. The published limits are set tighter than the regulatory maxima

The specification on this page is not written to the legal minimum. Compared with the EU permitted maxima for sorbitol syrup (E 420 (ii)) and, where relevant, the sorbitol monograph (E 420 (i)), the released limits are deliberately more demanding:

For a food, oral-care or excipient buyer, that gap is the practical difference between a material that passes a regulatory audit and a material that passes an internal specification with margin left over.

Note on the ionic-load parameter: the EU monograph expresses this property as conductivity ≤ 10 µS/cm on the product as such at 20 °C, while the specification on this page expresses the same property as resistivity ≤ 20 µS/cm. The two are not numerically interchangeable, and buyers running ion-sensitive processes should ask for the residual-ionic data in the form their own specification uses.

3. Documentation travels with the lot

Each shipment is accompanied by the specification sheet, the technical data sheet and the certificate of analysis for the batch supplied. Additional statements required for a buyer's own vendor qualification are issued on request.

Packaging & Shipping

The product is supplied as a bulk liquid in new drums, in three drum sizes:

Points worth noting at order stage:

Three drum sizes, one product.

• The 250 / 270 / 275 kg options exist so that a buyer can match the delivered unit to their own decanting, palletising or warehouse handling. The drum size is confirmed when the order is placed, because the three sizes load differently.

New drums on every lot.

• Drums are supplied new, which matters where the material feeds a food, oral-care or excipient process and reconditioned packaging is not acceptable.

Drummed liquid logistics.

• The liquid ships as drummed cargo, so the receiving site needs drum handling available. Sites that decant into their own bulk vessels should confirm the connection size against the drum outlet before the first delivery.

Lot quantum.

• Representative lots are produced and shipped in substantial drummed quantities from a single batch, which keeps a buyer on one batch number for longer and reduces re-qualification work.

Storage & Handling

Storage conditions.

• Store in a cool, dry, ventilated environment, as specified on the product specification sheet.

Keep the drums closed.

• Seal containers when not in use. Sorbitol solution is hygroscopic in the sense that it will exchange moisture with ambient air, so an open drum in a humid area will drift in dry-substance content.

Protect from direct sunlight and heat.

• Keep drums out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources to limit colour development over storage.

Use first in, first out.

• Rotate stock by batch. Because each batch is certified separately, following FIFO keeps the certificate on hand matched to the material being consumed.

Avoid contamination.

• Use clean, dry, dedicated transfer equipment. Do not return decanted material to the original drum.

Shelf life.

• The batch certificate issued with each lot states its own shelf life; a 24-month period from the date of manufacture is typical of this grade.

Why Choose Us

We are reliable China bulk supplier for food‑grade polyol sweeteners including maltitol syrup, liquid glucose, sorbitol solution. We supply consistent‑quality bulk liquid sweetener for food and pharma manufacturers globally.

• Stable large‑volume production capacity
• Flexible MOQ for trial and bulk order
• Full set compliance documents for global import
• Prompt technical support for formulation inquiry

• Factory-direct supply with stable quality and batch-to-batch consistency
• Full documentation package: Specification, COA, MSDS
• Flexible viscosity grades and packing options tailored to your mortar formulation
• Experienced export service with fast response

Qingdao Golden Grain Chemical Co., Ltd, invested by Golden Grain Group Limited, one professional manufacturer and exporter since 2000, is devoted to supplying products and solutions to food & beverage, medicine, animal feed & nutrition, personal care & household, construction, agriculture.
Golden Grain Group Limited have professional staff, advanced production lines and complete lab equipment, pass GMP, HACCP, ISO, HALAL, KOSHER, BRC, GMP-Free, and other necessary certificates, which ensure our quality to be international standard. For many years' experience, we are exporting our products to more than 60 countries in the world.
"Quality Products", "Efficient Service", Golden Grain Group Limited hope to enter good business cooperation with customers at home and abroad for long.