What is the application of stevia in food industry?

As a natural sugar with a long history of use, the demand for steviol glycosides continues to grow, with most new product releases concentrated in North America, Asia, and Western Europe. Beverages remain the main category for the release of new steviol glycoside products. In addition, sports nutrition, dairy products, snacks, and candies have also seen significant growth, and new categories such as desserts, ice cream, and baked goods are gradually being introduced. Steviol glycosides have attracted much attention in the food and beverage industry due to their natural properties and almost zero calorie value. However, the subsequent bitterness and unpleasant aftertaste are a major obstacle to their application. In order to solve the problem of aftertaste, our exploration has never stopped, and steviol glycoside RM has finally been discovered.

Stevia glycosides stand out as a new generation of natural sweeteners due to their cool and sweet taste, high safety, and long-term use that will not cause irritation.

As a sugar free sweetener, inulin is not only not metabolized like sugar, but it is also not used by plaque bacteria to produce sugar acids that can cause tooth decay, making it a useful sweetener in toothpaste. Steviol glycosides are easily soluble in water and stable in solutions of acid and salt. It will quickly absorb moisture in the air and has a solubility of over 40% at room temperature. When used in combination with citric acid, steviol glycosides have a good taste. Eating does not generate calories.

Nowadays, due to the strong stability of steviol glycosides, their application fields are very extensive. Can be applied in the food industry, such as candy drinks, baked goods; In the field of medicine, such as health food and pharmaceutical excipients; In the field of feed, such as pet food; In daily chemical products such as toothpaste.

Steviol glycosides can be used as flavor enhancers in food or soft drinks when consumed. It can also be mixed with sucrose chloride, aspartame, and saccharin to enhance sweetness. Steviol glycosides, along with fructose, maltose, and sorbitol, can be used to produce hard sugars. Steviol glycosides can be used to produce chewing gum or bubble gum, as well as to make different flavors of fructose. Steviol glycosides can also be used to produce cake powder.

The application of sugar substitutes has a long history and each product has its own characteristics. How to make "1+1>2" the theme of exploration? Through repeated experimental verification, "combination boxing" gradually emerged.

Steviol glycoside+erythritol

As a high-intensity sweetener, steviol glycosides (mainly Reb A and Reb B) have a relatively slow onset of sweetness, a sharp increase in sweetness, and are prone to producing long-lasting aftertaste. Erythritol can alter the time curve of sweetness and eliminate some trailing effects.

Stevioside+alotose+mogroside

The combination of stevia rebaudiana, alotose and siraitia grosvenorii glycoside is very similar to sugar in taste. It is suitable for carbonated drinks and non carbonated drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, syrup, chewing gum and candy. It can promote the improvement of water binding and browning functions through Maillard reaction.

Stevioside+erythritol+siraitin+alotose

This mixture gives full play to the advantages of each sweetener while eliminating their respective disadvantages. For example, erythritol and alotose can neutralize the taste of stevioside and siraitin; Alonose can counteract the cool taste and endothermic properties of erythritol, reduce its crystallinity, and lower the freezing point of frozen foods, participating in the Maillard reaction..