Institute of Medicine

Food and Nutrition Board

Committee on Food Chemicals Codex
Revised Monograph - Dextrin
Please send comments to the Committee on Food Chemicals Codex, National Academy of Sciences, FO 3042, 2101
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20418 or email them to fcc@nas.edu. All comments must be
received by December 15, 1996, for consideration for the First Supplement.

______________________________________________________________________________
June 13, 1996
Dextrin
INS: 1400

CAS: [9004-53-9]

DESCRIPTION
Dextrin is partially hydrolyzed starch converted by heat alone, or by heating in the presence of suitable food-grade
acids and buffers, from any of several grain- or root-based unmodified native starches (e.g., corn, waxy maize, high
amylose, milo, waxy milo, potato, arrowroot, wheat, rice, tapioca, sago, etc.). The products thus obtained occur as
free-flowing white, yellow, or brown powders and consist chiefly of polygonal, rounded, or oblong or truncated
granules. They are partially to completely soluble in water.
Functional Use in Foods Thickener; colloidal stabilizer; binder; surface-finishing agent.
REQUIREMENTS
Labeling Indicate the presence of sulfur dioxide if the residual concentration is greater than 10 mg/kg.
Identification Suspend about 1 g of the sample in 20 mL of water, and add a few drops of iodine TS. A dark blue
to reddish brown color is produced.
Chloride Not more than 0.2%.
Crude Fat Not more than 1.0%.
Heavy Metals (as Pb) Not more than 0.002%.
Lead Not more than 1 mg/kg.
Loss on Drying Not more than 13.0%.
Protein Not more than 1.0%.
Reducing Sugars Not more than 18.0% (expressed as D-glucose), calculated on the dried basis.
Residue on Ignition Not more than 0.5%.
Sulfur Dioxide Not more than 0.005%.
TESTS
Heavy Metals, Lead, Loss on Drying, Protein, and Sulfur Dioxide Determine as directed in the monograph for
Food Starch, Modified.
Chloride, Appendix IIIB Dissolve 1 g in 25 mL of boiling water, cool, dilute to 100 mL with water, and filter.
To 1 mL of the filtrate add 24 mL of water, 2 mL of nitric acid, and 1 mL of silver nitrate TS. Any turbidity
produced does not exceed that shown in a control containing 20 g of chloride ion.
Crude Fat Determine as directed in the general method, Appendix X.

Reducing Sugars Transfer about 10 g of the sample, accurately weighed, into a 200-mL collecting flask, dilute
to volume with water, shake for 30 min, and filter through Whatman No. 1 filter paper, or equivalent, collecting
the filtrate in a clean, dry flask. Pipet 10 mL each of Fehling's Solution A and of Fehling's Solution B (see Cupric
Tartrate TS, Alkaline, in the section on General Tests and Assays, Solutions and Indicators) into a 250-mL
Erlenmeyer flask, add 20.0 mL of the sample filtrate and 10 mL of water, and mix. Add two small glass beads,
cover the mouth of the flask with a small glass funnel or glass bulb, and heat on a hot plate adjusted to bring the
solution to a boil in 3 min. Continue boiling for exactly 2 min (total heating time, 5 min), and then quickly cool to
room temperature in an ice bath or in a cold running-water bath. Add 10 mL each of 30% potassium iodide
solution and of 28% sulfuric acid, and titrate immediately with 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate. Near the endpoint add 1
mL of starch TS, and continue titrating carefully, while agitating the solution continuously, until the blue color is
discharged. Record the volume, in mL, of 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate required as S. Conduct two reagent blank
determinations in the same manner, substituting water for the sample filtrate, and record the average volume, in
mL, of the blanks as B. Obtain the Titer Difference, expressed as mL of 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate, by subtracting S
from B. Determine the weight, in mg, of reducing sugars, expressed as D-glucose (dextrose), by reference to the
table below entitled Conversion of Titer Difference to Reducing Sugars Content, and record this value as R.
Calculate the percentage of reducing sugars, as D-glucose, on the dried basis, by the formula
(R 200 100)/(W 20 1000),
in which W is the weight, in g, of sample taken, corrected for Loss on Drying.
Conversion of Titer Difference to Reducing Sugars Contenta
Titer
Difference
(mL)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Reducing Sugar (as Dextrose) (mg)
0.0
0.0
0.3
0.7
1.0
1.3
1.0
3.2
3.5
3.8
4.1
4.4
2.0
6.4
6.6
6.9
7.2
7.5
3.0
9.4
9.8
10.1
10.4
10.7
4.0
12.6
13.0
13.3
13.6
14.0

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.6
4.7
7.8
11.0
14.3

1.9
5.0
8.1
11.4
14.6

2.2
5.3
8.5
11.7
15.0

2.5
5.6
8.8
12.0
15.3

2.8
5.9
9.1
12.3
15.6

5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0

15.9
19.2
22.4
25.6
28.9

16.3
19.5
22.7
25.9
29.3

16.6
19.8
23.0
26.2
29.6

16.9
20.1
23.3
26.6
30.0

17.2
20.5
23.7
26.9
30.3

17.6
20.8
24.0
27.3
30.6

17.9
21.1
24.3
27.6
31.0

18.2
21.4
24.6
28.0
31.3

18.5
21.8
24.9
28.3
31.6

18.9
22.1
25.2
28.6
31.9

10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0

32.3
35.7
39.0
42.4
45.8

32.7
36.0
39.3
42.8
46.2

33.0
36.3
39.6
43.1
46.5

33.3
36.7
40.0
43.4
46.9

33.7
37.0
40.3
43.7
47.2

34.0
37.3
40.6
44.1
47.6

34.3
37.6
41.0
44.4
47.9

34.6
38.0
41.3
44.8
48.3

35.0
38.3
41.7
45.2
48.6

35.3
38.7
42.0
45.5
48.9

15.0
16.0
17.0
18.0
19.0

49.3
52.8
56.3
59.8
63.3

49.6
53.2
56.7
60.1
63.6

49.9
53.5
57.0
60.5
64.0

50.3
53.9
57.3
60.9
64.3

50.7
54.2
57.7
61.2
64.7

51.1
54.5
58.1
61.5
65.0

51.4
54.9
58.4
61.9
65.4

51.7
55.3
58.8
62.3
65.8

52.1
55.6
59.1
62.6
66.1

52.4
56.0
59.5
63.0
66.5

20.0
21.0

66.9
70.7

67.2
71.1

67.6
71.5

68.0
71.9

68.4
72.2

68.8
72.6

69.1
73.0

69.5
73.4

69.9
73.7

70.3
74.1

22.0
23.0
24.0

74.5
78.5
82.6

74.9
78.9
83.0

75.3
79.3
83.4

75.7
79.7
83.8

76.1
80.1
84.2

76.5
80.5
84.6

76.9
80.9
85.0

77.3
81.3
85.4

77.7
81.7
85.8

78.1
82.1
86.2

25.0
26.0
27.0

86.6
90.7
94.8

87.0
91.1

87.4
91.5

87.8
91.9

88.2
92.3

88.6
92.7

89.0
93.1

89.4
93.5

89.8
93.9

90.2
94.3

Use of this table presumes the ability of the analyst to duplicate exactly the conditions under which the data were developed.
The risk of error can be avoided by careful duplicate standardization with known quantities of pure dextrose (5 samples,
ranging from 10 to 70 mg). A plot of Titer Difference versus mg of dextrose is slightly curvilinear, passing through the origin. If
use of a standardization curve is adopted, the thiosulfate solution need not be standardized. Some additional increase in
accuracy results from use of a 0.065 N sodium thiosulfate solution, which increases the blank titer to about 44 to 45 mL.

Residue on Ignition Ignite 5 g as directed in the general method, Appendix IIC.

Packaging and Storage Store in well-closed containers.