How to Separate Fructose From Other Sugars

Fructose is the sugar from fruits that can be found in many foods, naturally or added artificially. Fructose has a lower glycemic index than other sugars, which means it does not cause spikes in blood sugar levels and insulin response like other carbohydrate sources. The glycemic index of fructose is less than half that of ordinary table sugar however it is 1.73 times sweeter than sucrose, or table sugar. The separation process is quite simple and is most commonly done using beet, cane or corn to reduce cost; however, it can also be extracted from honey, fruit trees, berries, most root vegetables and melon.

Things You'll Need

• Blender
• Strainer
• Baking sheet
• Fine sieve or cheesecloth
• 2 Plastic or metal bowls/containers
• 2 Activated carbon bags

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Instructions

• 1

  Choose any fruit, honey, beet, cane, corn or a combination of these as your main ingredient to separate the fructose from. Blend the ingredient in a blender until thoroughly mashed. If done in large quantities or in an industrial setting, you may opt to process the chosen ingredient through a wet mill.

• 2

  Strain to separate the mash from the liquid. Reserve the liquid from straining to further process.

• 3

  Screen the extracted liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth to remove all solids. Press or squeeze out all liquid.

• 4

  Add one part yeast enzymes to the liquid to convert glucose to fructose. Allow to sit for one hour in an open container. If kept closed, carbonation will form in the liquid. The result of this process is 42 percent fructose, 58 percent glucose.

• 5

  Concentrate the liquid to fructose. Pass the liquid through activated carbon by placing one bag on top of the other in a strainer and pouring the liquid over the bags. Reserve liquid after passing through the activated carbon and repeat this step at least three times. This process results in approximately 100 percent fructose liquid.

  You can find bags of activate carbon for filtration at most pet stores where it is often sold for filtering aquarium water. This ingredient can also be found in common water filters and is typically referred to as charcoal.

• 6

  Purify the fructose solution by continuing to pass the liquid through the activated carbon. The more the liquid is passed through the activated carbon, the more pure the fructose solution becomes.

• 7

  Crystallize the fructose for longer holding. Place in a thin layer on a baking sheet in the oven at one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit until all liquid has evaporated. Crystals will form on the pan and no liquid will remain. Do not leave the fructose in the oven too long or at a higher heat, or the fructose will caramelize and burn. Gently brush off the crystals and store in an air tight container. This form of fructose acts as a good replacement for table sugar.