Innovative approaches to obtaining a green sweetener

Abstract

On the backdrop of the general trend towards healthy diet, scientists have noted an increase in the incidence of diabetes in the most active part of the working population. An erroneous idea of a balanced diet formed by the mass media contributed to the consolidation of a sweet taste as the most desirable in diets. To reduce harmful effects of sugar while maintaining the familiar taste of food, one of the ways to “improve” nutrition is to use a natural sweetener which is called stevia. The article proposes the method of growing it in a controlled environment. The objectives of the study were to obtain raw materials with an optimal ratio of the amount of biomass and the content of sweet glycoside of stevioside in it, and approbation of the introduction of whole dried raw materials into the products. Growth environment was changed to create stress by varying the spectral composition of the light. Obtained results indicate differences in the accumulation of stevioside along the tiers of leaves, with a maximum at an average level, as well as in the different effects of red, white, and blue parts of the spectrum on plant development. It has been shown that the regime with transition from the white or red spectra giving an increase in green mass to blue, “switching” metabolic processes to the accumulation of secondary metabolites, which stevioside belongs to, should become optimal. Obtained raw materials showed compatibility in bakery product formulations and in soft drinks. The method is considered promising for use in the greenhouse complexes of the Arctic to provide the rations of the local population with a functional additive for preventive nutrition.