In general, hexitols and their derivatives particularly Sorbitol, are used in diverse industries viz. pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toothpastes, cigarettes, foods, textiles, adhesives, confectionery, printing ink, etc. One of the major uses of Sorbitol is as a humectant and conditioning agent. Many products under day-to-day atmospheric changes require the addition of a humectant to assist them to retain their freshness, softness and flexibility and to maintain ideal manufacturing conditions.

To summarise, the principal advantages which Sorbitol exhibits over other polyols are

CONFECTIONERY :

In candy manufacture, Sorbitol is used together with sugar to increase shelf life. The function of Sorbitol is to retard the solidification of sugar often associated with staleness in candy. It also helps to improve softness, taste and texture. In butter creams additional benefit is enhanced flavour. Sorbitol may be used in diabetic chocolates. Sorbitol is used as humectant and softener in shredded coconut, its decided advantage over invert sugar being that the darkening of the product does not occur. Sorbitol 70% added to peanut butter has been shown to reduce dryness and crumbliness and improve spreadability.

TEXTILES :

Sorbitol functions in textile applications basically as a dispensing agent, humectant bodying agent and sequestering agent. In printing, a paste of 2% to 3% Sorbitol solution 70% (on the weight of the gum in the dye paste) prevents levering of the paste, improves brightness and intensity of colour, assists penetration, prevents bleeding and promotes leveling.

In textile sizing, Sorbitol acts as a humectant and especially in winter it preserves the film of adhesive from becoming dry and maintain its plasticity. In finishing, it gives a soft feel, good drape and proven dimension stability to the fabric.

TOBACCO :

The moisture content of cigarettes is very important, and change in moisture content, due to change in humidity, is minimised if Sorbitol is used as conditioner. Also Sorbitol is non-volatile and hence there is no danger of losing the conditioner during drying and other pressing operations. Sorbitol is compatible with various ingredients used in tobacco mixture. Because of its sweetness and cooling taste, Sorbitol contributes to the flavour of chewing tobacco besides conditioning the product.

ADHESIVES :

Sorbitol is the ideal answer since it neither loses nor absorbs any appreciable quantity of water, unlike conventional humectants like glycerine or ethylene glycol. Sorbitol increases the viscosity of the glue composition so that more water is needed, resulting in greater economy.
Sorbitol functions as a moisture conditioning agent and its non-volatility ensures non-cracking labels and envelops with minimum of curling.

PHARMACEUTICALS :

Sorbitol finds use as a bodying agent in pharmaceutical syrups and elixirs. The use of Sorbitol in cough syrups reduces the tendency of the bottle caps to stick due to the crystallisation of the sugar present. Sorbitol is a good humectants and plasticiser and these properties make it useful in emulsion ointments, non-fat soluble ointments and gelatine capsules. Ointments, creams and pastes will show satisfactory spreading capacity with sorbitol as adjuvant.

Aqueous Sorbitol Solutions are not subjected to fermentative decomposition, and that is why Sorbitol finds increasing use in the preparation of dental formulations for buckle cavity.

COSMETICS :

Sorbitol is widely used in cosmetics, both as a humectant to retard loss of water from O/W type of creams and as an emollient.

Sorbitol solution 70% has proved a useful additive for improving the aesthetic appeal of glycerine carbolic soap by imparting better transparency. Generally speaking, Sorbitol solution 70% can replace other humectants, by weight where the humectant percentage is less than 10%.

TOOTHPASTES :
Sorbitol effectively replaces glycerine and sugar in toothpastes imparting the required degree of plasticity and sweetness, humectant and plasticising properties of Sorbitol.

SKIN CREAM AND CREAM FOUNDATION :
Sorbitol replaces glycerine as humectant and conditioning agent and helps to reduce the greasiness as well as the particle size of the disperse.

EMULSION :
Sorbitol retards the loss of water by evaporation from oil in water emulsion and is more effective than glycerine of the same concentration when this is less then 10%.

FOODS :
Sorbitol imparts to frozen desserts, body and texture, as well as some sweetness. Sorbitol is used in frozen desserts for diabetics because it is slowly absorbed from the intestine and is metabolised as fructose. In the manufacture of sugarless chewing gum, Sorbitol provides water soluble solids; further a 70% solution of Sorbitol resists fermentation of acids by micro-organisms in mouth and therefore it is believed not to contribute to the incidence of dental caries. In artificially sweetened canned fruits, the undesirable aftertaste of saccharine. In low-caloric soft drinks, sorbitol finds use as a bodying agent in addition to its use as a sequestering agent in canned soft drinks.

DIABETIC DIETS :

Extensive research has led to the adoption of Sorbitol to substitute sugar as sweetening agent in diabetic diets.