Stevia glycosides, also known as stevia extracts or stevia sweeteners, are a series of high-intensity sweeteners naturally present in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. Its sweetness is about 200-300 times that of sucrose (sugar).
It has the advantages of zero calories, no blood sugar rise (glycemic index 0), and extraction from natural plant sources, and is widely used in sugar free, low calorie food and beverages. The European food additive code is E960.
Types of Stevia Glycosides
Stevioside and Stevioside A are the main sweeteners, while other components are present in small amounts in Stevia leaves. These steviol glycosides are glycosides of steviol alcohol, with different molecular structures but all having the same basic skeleton, namely steviol alcohol.
The difference between them lies in the type and quantity of glucose moieties bound by glycosidic bonds in C-13 and C-19, which determine their own chemical structure and taste.
It seems that the more glucose in steviol glycosides, the better the sweetness and the less bitterness. Stevioside has three glucose moieties, while rebaudin A has four and rebaudin M has six glucose moieties. Among these three, rebaudin M has the best taste, followed by rebaudin A, and steviol glycoside again.
Stevia leaves contain 6% -10% steviol glycosides, 2% -4% Rebaudioside A, and 1% -2% other minor steviol glycosides (Rebaudioside B, C, D, E, F, and M, steviol disaccharides, steviol glycosides, and dulcosin A).
Currently, over 70 types of stevia glycosides have been discovered, but most of them lack relevant sweetness data due to their low content.
The content of steviol glycosides accounts for about 60% -70% of the total steviol glycosides; Next is Rebaudioside A, which accounts for about 15% to 20% of the total content; The third is Rebaudioside C, with a content of about 5%.
What is the difference between Stevioside and Rebaudioside A?
Stevioside and rebaudioside A are two major natural sweeteners in the leaves of the stevia plant. They have the same based structure steviol but the latter has one more glucose moiety, which leads to their difference.
The following are the two main comparisons:
Water solubility: rebaudioside A is more soluble in water, with the solubility 1%.
Sweet taste and Uses: reb A is more sweeter than stevioside, without significant bitterness, and used widely than stevioside. Reb A was considered as the best tasting commercial stevia, but later came rebaudioside M (reb M).
What're the Uses of Stevioside?
Stevioside was first isolated and used in low/free sugar and reduced-calorie food & drink among other steviol glycosides. With the benefits of natural plant based, zero calorie, does not raise blood sugar (safe for diabetics).
With an emphasis on decreasing calorie intake and sugar consumption, and preferring natural high intensity sweeteners, some food and drink manufacturers change from the use of artificial sweeteners to stevia sweeteners and monk fruit sweeteners.
When used as a sugar substitute, only a small amount of stevioside is needed to achieve the desired sweetening purposes due to its about 250-300 times sweeter than table sugar.
However, its uses are not wide as reb A due to its unpleasant taste.
Application of Food & Beverage
Steviol glycosides are non-nutritive sweeteners that can be used as the alternatives for artificial sweeteners (e.g. aspartame, acesulfame k, sucralose, saccharin, neotame), and with the properties of 200 to 300 times than sugar, zero calorie, zero glycemic index, does not cause tooth decay, does not raise blood sugar and suitable for diabetics, it is suitable to produce energy reduction and sugar free food.
Steviol glycosides are widely used in foods such as carbonated soft drinks, dairy products, tea, juice, bakery, confectionery, pickles, desserts, and etc. They're often combined with artificial sweeteners.