Top 10 Foods Highest in Maltose

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Top 10 Foods Highest in Maltose

Maltose is a disaccharide composed of two glucose molecules. It is produced by plants, especially in seeds and grains when they germinate.

Maltose is also produced when glucose is caramelized and so may be found in toasted (browned) foods such as bread, crackers, and bagels. Maltose is used in food manufacturing; it is added to a wide variety of foods as a sweetener and is used to make beer.

Foods high in maltose include pancakes, sweet potatoes, French bread, fried onion rings, bagels, pizza, hamburgers, edamame, and malt-o-meal cereal.

Below are the top 10 foods high in maltose based on data in the USDA database. Please note that maltose data is incomplete in the database. There may be more foods high in maltose. Remember that when food is browned (such as toasting bread) or caramelized (as in cooked sweet potatoes) maltose may be present.

List of High Maltose Foods

Pancakes1 Pancakes (Hot Cakes)
Up to 5.2% Maltose
Maltose per 3 PancakesMaltose per 100g
11.5g (2.9 tsp)5.2g (1.3 tsp)
Sweet Potato2 Sweet Potatoes
Up to 3.3% Maltose
Maltose per Cup CookedMaltose per 100g
11g (2.7 tsp)3.3g (0.8 tsp)
French Bread3 French Bread
Up to 3.7% Maltose
Maltose per SliceMaltose per 100g
5.1g (1.3 tsp)3.7g (0.9 tsp)
Fried Onion Rings4 Fried Onion Rings
Up to 1.2% Maltose
Maltose per OrderMaltose per 100g
4.2g (1 tsp)1.2g (0.3 tsp)

Most breaded and fried foods will have the same amount of maltose.

A row of bagels5 Bagels
Up to 3.2% Maltose
Maltose per BagelMaltose per 100g
3.2g (0.8 tsp)3.2g (0.8 tsp)
A slice of pizza6 Pizza
Up to 1.7% Maltose
Maltose per SliceMaltose per 100g
2.2g (0.5 tsp)1.7g (0.4 tsp)
A Hamburger7 Hamburgers
Up to 0.6% Maltose
Maltose per BurgerMaltose per 100g
2.1g (0.5 tsp)0.6g (0.1 tsp)
A slice of pie8 Pies (Apple)
Up to 1.5% Maltose
Maltose per SliceMaltose per 100g
2g (0.5 tsp)1.5g (0.4 tsp)
Green Soybeans (Edamame)9 Edamame (Green Soybeans)
Up to 1% Maltose
Maltose per CupMaltose per 100g
1.5g (0.4 tsp)1g (0.2 tsp)
Puffed Cereal10 Malt-o-Meal Golden Puffs
Up to 4.5% Maltose
Maltose per 3/4 CupMaltose per 100g
1.2g (0.3 tsp)4.5g (1.1 tsp)

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Top 10 Foods High in Maltose

About the Data

Data for the curated food lists comes from the USDA Food Data Central Repository.

You can check our data against the USDA by clicking the (Source) link at the bottom of each food listing.

Note: When checking data please be sure the serving sizes are the same. In the rare case you find any difference, please contact us and we will fix it right away.

Use the ranking tool links below to select foods and create your own food list to share or print.


View more nutrients with the nutrient ranking tool, or see ratios with the nutrient ratio tool.

Data Sources and References

  1. U.S. Agricultural Research Service Food Data Central
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