Sugar has a strong attraction to human beings, not only because it contains high energy, but also because it can activate the reward (pleasure) system in the brain, thus triggering "sugar addiction" behavior. With the progress of research, people are increasingly aware of the health problems such as obesity caused by excessive sugar intake. There are many kinds of sweeteners, and the pursuit of green, healthy, low calorie and good taste sweeteners has become the demand of many consumers. As a substitute for sugar, natural sweeteners have the characteristics of safety and stability, and the market scale is constantly increasing. So, what are natural sweeteners, what are common natural sweeteners, and what are their characteristics?
Definition of natural sweeteners
Natural sweeteners are generally a class of sweet chemical components directly extracted from nature or properly modified, most of which are secondary metabolites of plants or microorganisms. Compared with the first generation sweeteners represented by sucrose and the second generation sweeteners represented by sodium cyclamate, natural sweeteners not only have high sweetness and low calories, but also have the advantages of good solubility, good taste, high stability, and generally have the characteristics of non-toxic and side effects. Some of them have also been found to have physiological functions such as anti allergy and enhancing immune regulation. Therefore, natural sweeteners can be widely used in all kinds of food, and have great development and application prospects.
Natural sweeteners commonly used in the food industry include stevioside, siraitin, glycyrrhizin, steatoside, sweet protein (soma sweet, etc.) and sugar alcohols, such as erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, lactol, etc. (see Table 1 for details).
Table 1 Comparison of common natural sweeteners
|
natural sweetener |
sweetness |
calories |
flavor characteristics |
Safety and physiological characteristics |
|
used |
Other features |
|
steviol glycoside |
150-300 |
1/300 |
Sweet, bitter, liquorice, metallic |
High safety, non carcinogenic, non-toxic, no side effects, safe to eat |
0.91 |
Unlimited |
Non fermentable substance, stable in nature, bacteriostatic, non discoloration in processing, high temperature resistance, stable to heat and acid-base |
|
Mogroside |
300 |
zero calories |
Sweet, cool, liquorice |
It is safe and non-toxic, has certain anti oxygen activity, protects the liver, enhances immunity, inhibits oral bacteria, and controls blood glucose levels |
- |
Unlimited |
It is often used as a substitute sugar for obese and diabetic patients |
|
glycyrrhizin |
50-100 |
low-calorie |
Sweet, liquorice |
It is safe and non-toxic, masking the bad bitter taste and odor in some food components |
1.86 |
Unlimited |
In high-temperature processed foods, such as meat and baked goods, it can avoid the damage of color, aroma and taste caused by food coking |
|
rubusoside |
300 |
1/100 |
Sweet and cool |
It is safe to eat, has no toxic side effects, and has the effect of reducing blood lipids and blood glucose |
- |
limit |
It is suitable for patients with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia, etc. and people who are not suitable for sugar |
|
thaumatin |
1600-3000 |
low-calorie |
Sweet taste, no odor |
It is safe and non-toxic, and can be degraded into amino acids needed by human body |
8.13 |
0.025g/kg |
Natural sweet protein |
|
0.7 |
1/10 |
Sweet taste, soft and delicate taste |
No health risk is found, blood glucose and insulin will not be increased, anti-inflammatory, and excessive consumption may cause abdominal distension |
- |
- |
Single consumption weight less than 0.4g per kilogram, and daily consumption weight less than 0.9g per kilogram |
|
|
0.65 |
zero calories |
Sweet and cool |
It is not involved in the metabolism of sugar, and the metabolic pathway is independent of insulin or rarely dependent on insulin, and hardly generates heat and causes changes in blood glucose |
0.03 |
Unlimited |
Erythritol has the smallest molecular weight and the best absorption effect, but it is a caloric free sugar alcohol that is not directly excreted after absorption without being metabolized |
|
|
xylitol |
0.9-1.0 |
low-calorie |
Sweet and cool |
Most sugar alcohols are known as nutritional sweeteners because they can be absorbed, digested and metabolized by people and have a certain amount of heat. Sugar alcohols are often alcohols generated by the reduction of corresponding monosaccharides or disaccharides. They have a small molecular weight and are more easily absorbed. Sugar alcohols are not decomposed by gastric enzymes and directly enter the intestine. Due to their different molecular structures and sugars in the small intestine, the absorption time is slower than that of glucose, which has a certain effect of moistening the intestine. Excessive intake may produce gas in the intestine, causing abdominal distension, bowel sounds, and even diarrhea. |
0.26 |
Use appropriately according to production needs |
Prevent dental caries and eliminate the formed dental plaque |
|
sorbitol |
0.48 |
low-calorie |
Sweet and cool |
0.22 |
Good moisturizing performance can maintain a certain amount of moisture in food, prevent the precipitation and crystallization of sugar and salt, maintain the strength balance of sweet, sour and bitter taste, and enhance food flavor |
||
|
maltitol |
0.8-0.95 |
low-calorie |
Sweet |
0.37 |
The tolerated dose of maltitol is 28-32g per day |
||
|
mannitol |
0.55 |
low-calorie |
Sweet and cool |
- |
It can mask the taste of vitamins, minerals and herbs. Used as anti sticking agent, nutritional supplement and tissue moisturizer of candy |
||
|
lactitol |
0.35 |
low-calorie |
Sweet |
- |
A prebiotic |
Stevioside is a kind of diterpenoid compounds with high sweet taste extracted from Stevia rebaudiana, a herbaceous plant in the Compositae family. At present, there are more than 30 known, and the sweetness is about 150-300 times that of sucrose. Stevioside is considered as "the third natural glycogen in the world" because of its low calorie, high sweetness, good stability and low price. It is widely used in medicine, daily chemical industry, beverage, food, wine and other industries. The main sweet components of stevioside are shown in Table 2, among which rebaudioside A and stevioside have the highest content, accounting for more than 80% of the total content of stevioside. Rebaudioside A (RA) is also the stevioside with the most reported applications, and its sweetness is 350-450 times that of sucrose. In addition, rebaudioside D (RD) and rebaudioside m (RM) taste closer to sucrose than other stevioside components, so it is one of the directions for the development and upgrading of new stevioside products.
Fig. 1 Chemical components of Stevia glycosides
From: Synthesis and production of steviol glycosides: recent research trends and perspectives
The research on the sweet chemical components of Siraitia grosvenorii began in the 1970s. Siraitia grosvenorin is generally extracted from mature fresh Siraitia grosvenorii fruits (commonly known as "immortal fruit" or sweetener). It is a general term for a class of glycosides with cucurbitane triterpene siraitol as aglycone. The sweetness of Mogroside is very high, about 300 times that of sucrose. The main components of Mogroside are shown in Table 1, of which Mogroside V is the highest content, and it is also the main source of Mogroside sweetness. As a food, Mogroside is safe and non-toxic. According to the national compulsory standard GB2760 standard for the use of food additives, Mogroside can be used in all kinds of food without limitation. As an ideal natural sweetener, Siraitia grosvenorii is not a source of energy for humans, so it is often used as a substitute sugar for obese and diabetic patients. In addition, the study also found other physiological effects of Mogroside, such as antioxidant, liver protection, enhancing immunity, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, inhibiting oral bacteria, etc.
Fig. 2 chemical structure of Mogroside
Liquorice extract (glycyrrhizin)
Glycyrrhizin is a triterpenoid extracted from the roots or stems of the medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Glycyrrhizic acid is the main component of the extract, mixed with a small amount of glycyrrhizinate. The sweetness of the extract is 50-100 times that of sucrose, and the sweetness of glycyrrhizinate is 150-300 times that of sucrose. Glycyrrhizinate is the general name of monopotassium Glycyrrhizinate, Tripotassium glycyrrhizinate and ammonium glycyrrhizinate. Its sweetness is 500 times, 150 times and 200 times that of sucrose, respectively. Glycyrrhizic acid has high sweetness, low heat and is safe and non-toxic. The structural formula of glycyrrhizic acid is shown in Figure 1. Compared with sucrose, proteoglycan, stevioside, saccharin and other sweeteners, glycyrrhizin has a good sense of sweetness and medicinal properties, and its sweet taste is produced slowly and remains for a long time. Glycyrrhizinate can not only enhance the sweetness and aroma of beverages, but also mask the bad bitterness and odor of some food components. In high-temperature processed foods, such as meat and baked goods, it can avoid the damage of color, aroma and taste caused by food coking. In recent years, glycyrrhizin has been widely used in medicine, food, cosmetics and other industries. With the gradual expansion of the artificial planting area of Glycyrrhiza, glycyrrhizin extracted from Glycyrrhiza as a natural sweetener and health food has attracted the attention of many scholars at home and abroad.
Fig. 3 molecular structure of glycyrrhizin
Rubusoside
Sweet tea is a new variety of Rubus in Rosaceae. The diterpenoid glycosides in sweet tea include sweet glycosides, odorless glycosides and bitter glycosides. Their structures and sweet types are shown in Table 4. Among them, the higher content of sweet glycosides, stevia glycosides, is a diterpene sugar body, which is similar to stevioside in chemical structure. Its sweetness is 300 times that of sucrose, its heat is about 1% of sucrose, and it has a refreshing sweet taste close to sucrose. It is safe to eat and has no toxic side effects. It has the effects of reducing blood lipids and blood glucose, and is an ideal sweet substitute. It is especially suitable for patients with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia and people who are not suitable for sugar, so it is widely used in the natural non sugar sweeteners market such as food and health products.
Xi'an Green Spring Technology Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer and supplier of natural sweeteners. We have been engaged in the production and sales of natural sweeteners for more than 22 years. We produce high-quality natural sweeteners, including stevia extract, erythritol, aloketose, momordica grosvenorii extract, etc. At the same time, we can customize compound sweeteners according to your needs.