Abstract: According to xylitol fermentation, the broth mfodel of xylitol was prepared. The effects of impurities, temperature, supersaturation, crystal seed amount and size on xylitol crystal growth rate were discussed. It was indicated that xylitol crystal growth rate was proportional to temperature and supersaturation. However, impurities such as sorbitol and adonitol restricted xylitol crystal growth rate, and crystal seed size and amount had no effect on it. The kinetics equation of xylitol crystal growth was established on power-law-equation and Arrhenius-type equation. By the way, the values of activation energy for xylitol crystal growth were calculated. It seemed to indicate that surface integration and speed control might be both significant mechanism in the process of xylitol crystal growth.

Key words: xylitol, broth model, crystallization, kinetics