SWEETNESS EQUIVALENCE OF DIFFERENT SWEETENERS IN STRAWBERRY‐FLAVORED YOGURT

Abstract

ABSTRACTTo successfully substitute sucrose for sweeteners, further studies must be carried out based on previous knowledge of sweetener concentration to determine the equivalent sweetness of such compounds. In this work, sweetness equivalence of strawberry‐flavored yogurt with different sweeteners and/or their combinations (aspartame, acesulfame‐K, cyclamate, saccharin, stevia and sucralose) and yogurt sweetened with 11.5% w/w sucrose was measured using the sensory magnitude estimation method. The sweetness concentrations equivalent to strawberry yogurt sweetened with 11.5% w/w sucrose in the tested sweeteners were 0.072% w/w for aspartame, 0.042% w/w for aspartame/acesulfame‐K (2:1), 0.064% w/w for cyclamate/saccharin, 0.043% w/w for cyclamate/saccharin (2:1)/stevia (1.8:1) and 0.30% w/w for sucralose. These results can promote the use of different sweetener combinations in strawberry‐flavored yogurt, specially acesulfame‐K and stevia, once they produce more pleasing in this product.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThis study provides some useful information, since there is no data in the literature about sweetness equivalence of sweeteners in yogurt, but only in simpler matrices such as pure water, juices, coffee and teas. The use of stevia blend presented several advantages such as increased sweetening power, demonstrating the potential of this natural sweetener. The magnitude estimation method has been successful in this study, being an important tool for development of new low‐calorie products. It may be noted that when evaluating different types of food using the same kinds of sweeteners, these promote distinct characteristics and that reflect directly on the sensory quality of the final product. Thus, such studies generate important information for the food industries working with dietetic food.