High-potency Sweeteners Research Articles

Mind-Sets in Brazil Regarding the Perceptions of Stevia and Sucralose to Replace Sugar in Food: Using Generative AI and Mind Genomics Thinking to Generate Hypotheses and Insights

The paper presents the use of generative AI to explore the mind-sets of consumers in Brazil regarding the increasing use of high potency sweeteners. Through simulation and synthesis by AI, the paper shows how to generate deep knowledge regarding the mind-sets, how to simulate a town-hall question and answer session with these mind-sets, and what happens when these mind-sets go shopping (shop-along).

New Sweet-Tasting Gypenosides from "Jiaogulan" (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) and Their Interactions with the Homology Model of Sweet Taste Receptors.

Gynostemma pentaphyllum has been used as an herbal tea, vegetable, and dietary supplement for hundreds of years in East Asia. The sweet variety, grown in large areas in Fujian Province, China, is an essential source of "Jiaogulan" herbal tea. However, its sweet components are unknown. To investigate the sweet constituents of Fujian "Jiaogulan" and discover new natural high-potency sweeteners, phytochemical and sensory evaluations were combined to obtain 15 saponins, of which 11 (1-11) were sweet-tasting, including 2 new ones with sweetness intensities 20-200 times higher than that of sucrose, and four (12-15) were bitter-tasting. Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic methods (NMR, MS, IR, UV), hydrolysis, and comparison with literature data. The contents of the 15 saponins were quantitatively analyzed using UPLC-MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The contents of 1 and 2 sweet-tasting gypenosides were 9.913 ± 1.735 and 35.852 ± 1.739 mg/kg, respectively. The content of the sweetest compound (6) was 124.969 ± 0.961 mg/kg. Additionally, compound 4 was the most abundant sweet component (422.530 ± 3.702 mg/kg). Furthermore, molecular docking results suggested interactions of sweet saponins with sweet taste receptors. In general, this study revealed the material basis of the Fujian "Jiaogulan" taste.

Thiazolidinediones are Partially Effective Bitter Blockers

PurposeThe bad bitter taste of some medicines is a barrier to overcoming noncompliance with medication use, especially life-saving drugs given to children and the elderly. Here, we evaluated a new class of bitter blockers (thiazolidinediones, TZDs). MethodsIn this study, 2 TZDs were tested, rosiglitazone (ROSI) and a simpler form of TZD, using a high-potency sweetener as a positive control (neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, NHDC). We tested bitter-blocking effects using the bitter drugs tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF), a treatment for HIV and hepatitis B infection, and praziquantel (PRAZ), a treatment for schistosomiasis, by conducting taste testing with 2 separate taste panels: a general panel (N = 97, 20–23 years, 82.5% female, all Eastern European) and a genetically informative panel (N = 158, including 68 twin pairs, 18–82 years, 76% female, 87% European ancestry). Participants rated the bitterness intensity of the solutions on a 100-point generalized visual analog scale. FindingsPerson-to-person differences in drug bitterness were striking; TAF and PRAZ were weakly or not bitter for some people but moderately to highly bitter for others. Participants in both taste panels rated the bitter drugs TAF and PRAZ as less bitter on average when mixed with NHDC than when sampled alone. ROSI partially suppressed the bitterness of TAF and PRAZ, but effectiveness differed between the 2 panels: bitterness was significantly reduced for PRAZ but not TAF in the general panel and for TAF but not PRAZ in the genetically informative panel. ROSI was a more effective blocker than the other TZD. ImplicationsThese results suggest that TZDs are partially effective bitter blockers and the suppression efficacy differs from drug to drug, from person to person, and from panel to panel, suggesting other TZDs should be designed and tested with more drugs and on diverse populations to define which ones work best with which drugs and for whom. The discovery of bitter receptor blockers can improve compliance with medication use.

Sugar reduction in chocolate compound by replacement with flours containing small insoluble starch granules.

Consumer concern about intake of added sugars has increased commercial demand for sugar-reduced chocolates. However, substitution with high-potency sweeteners is not possible as sugar serves as an important bulking agent. Here, we investigated replacement of sucrose in chocolate compound with oat or rice flours, with starch granules smaller than 10µm, focusing on texture, sweetness, and acceptability. In Study 1, six chocolates were made: a control with 54% sucrose, four sucrose-reduced versions (reductions of 25% or 50%, using either oat or sweet rice flour), and one 54% sucrose chocolate with reduced refining time. These chocolates were compared in a Difference from Control (DFC) test in a within-subject design, with and without nose clips. Particle size distribution, yield stress, and plastic viscosity were measured. Chocolates with 25% sucrose reduction by either sweet rice or oat flour (or reduced refining time) were not significantly different from the blind control (p>0.05), regardless of nose clip use. In open-ended comments, participants reported differences in rice-flour-containing chocolates were due to a chalkier texture, while oat-flour-containing chocolates were described as smoother, softer, and creamier. DFC scores from the chocolates were positively correlated with plastic viscosity and negatively correlated with yield stress. In Study 2, 25% reduced sugar chocolates made with rice flour were liked significantly less than control, but the oat flour sample did not differ from control. Collectively, these results suggest up to 25% of sucrose in chocolate can be replaced with oat flour without negatively affecting texture or consumer acceptance.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF STEVIOL GLYCOSIDE IN STEVIA BY VARIOUS ANALYTICAL METHODS: A REVIEW

Stevia rebaudiana, a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae, is a popular natural sweetener with sensory and functional attributes that outperform those of conventional high-potency sweeteners. Stevia rebaudiana leaves contain sweet glycosides that have biological effects. The various glycosides included in extracts must be measured since, in addition to the major glycosides, they may also contribute to activity. The isocratic HPLC method was validated for the identification of dulcoside A, steviolbioside, rebaudioside C, and rebaudioside B. The development and validation of the HPTLC technique for the simultaneous measurement of three steviol glycosides in Stevia rebaudiana leaves-steviolbioside, stevioside, and rebaudioside-A-also employed the ICH (International Conferences on Harmonisation) guidelines.

Ice cream with sucralose, stevioside, and erythritol as sugar substitutes: Sensory profile and customer preference.

Sugar-free food has been gaining popularity because of low-calorie content. But sugar replacement by high-intensity sweeteners can negatively affect sensory. In this study, the effect of the addition of sucralose (Suc), stevioside (Ste), and erythritol (Ery) as sugar substitutes on the sensory profile and overall acceptance of ice cream were evaluated by penalty analysis (PA) based on the check-all-that apply (CATA) method, with those of the partial least squares (PLS) regression. Twelve sweetening agents of ice cream samples were presented to 106 consumers who answered on an overall liking question using the 15-point hedonic scale and a CATA question with 32 attributes that described the sensory characteristics of ice cream. The results showed that mixed sweeteners (60%Suc+20%Ste+20%Ery or 60%Suc+10%Ste+30%Ery) can present an advantageous performance when used separately, and making ice cream similar to that of sucrose (Sac) added. Adding Suc, Ste, and Ery to ice cream hardly felt bitterness, astringency, and chemical-like sensations of the sweetening agent. The significant difference between different sweeteners is the intensity and speed of sweetness. Developing combination of high-potency sweeteners that can make sweetness appear quickly could open up new ways to design sugar-free ice cream.

Screening of elite germplasms for industrially valuable medicinal crop Stevia rebaudiana for stevioside and rebaudioside A production: An HPTLC-linked chemotaxonomic assessment

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Asteraceae) is a South American perennial herb native to the Paraguay region. It is high-value commercial crop in the food industry because of an array of bioactive diterpenoid glycosides, the most important of which are the steviol glycosides, stevioside (Stev) and rebaudioside A (Reb A). Standardized extract from Stevia leaves, which is high in steviol glycosides, can be used as a high-potency sweetener. The current study proposes a high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) approach for estimating stevioside and rebaudioside that is rapid, verified, and repeatable. A collection of 32 chemotypes of Stevia rebaudiana were collected from 32 districts across nine Indian states. Stevioside and rebaudioside A content ranged between 1.43 - 5.88 % and 0.77 - 1.95 % respectively across 32 chemotypes of S. rebaudiana . Among all the studied samples, SrP1 chemotype was found to possess the highest quantity of stevioside (5.88 %) and rebaudioside A (1.95 %), followed by SrH11 (5.28 % Stev; 1.89 % Reb A) chemotypes obtained from Jalandhar, Punjab and Palampur, Himachal Pradesh respectively. Chemotype SrWb32 (1.43 % Stev; 0.77 % Reb A) collected from Bardhaman, West Bengal exhibited least amount of stevioside and rebaudioside A. The current fast, reproducible, and validated HPTLC method presents an efficacious toolkit to explore the quantitative variation in the stevioside and rebaudioside A contents in natural S. rebaudiana chemotypes. This methodology may be employed to screen high stevioside and rebaudioside A yielding elite genotypes for future propagation as well as commercialization of these highly potent sweeteners to deal with the ever-expanding demand for alternative yet natural sweeteners in food industries. • Thirty two populations or chemotypes of Stevia rebaudiana were analysed to detect steviol glycosides. • Chemotypes of the plant revealed altitudinal variation in steviosides and rebaudisides A content. • Elite chemotypes can further be used for propagation and commercial utilization.

Mutation of Stevia glycosyltransferase UGT76G1 for efficient biotransformation of rebaudioside E into rebaudioside M

Rebaudioside M (RebM) is a desired natural non-caloric and high potency sweetener with very low content in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana. In this study, based on the crystal structure of UDP-dependent glycosyltransferase UGT76G1, a key enzyme responsible for RebM production in S. rebaudiana, a computational strategy combining protein structure, molecular docking, and single-point saturation mutation was adopted to engineer UGT76G1 to promote the transformation of rebaudioside E (RebE) into RebM via a two-step continuous glycosylation. An S195Q mutant was verified to have better performance, with a catalytic efficiency 1.2-fold higher towards RebE and 2-fold higher towards rebaudioside D (RebD) than wild-type UGT76G1. RebM (12.8 ± 0.6 g/L) and RebD (10.5 ± 0.1 g/L) were generated from RebE (20 g/L) catalyzed by the S195Q mutant coupling with a sucrose synthase from Micractinium conductrix at 40 °C for 32 h. This work would expand the application of structure-based enzyme design for glycosyltransferase engineering.

Sensory-guided isolation and identification of new sweet-tasting dammarane-type saponins from Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) herbal tea

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the chemical basis for the sweet property produced by Gynostemma pentaphyllum and find new natural high-potency (HP) sweeteners. Sixteen new compounds (gypenosides YN 1–16) were obtained by sensory-guided isolation and identification, in which fifteen of them were sweet-tasting constituents with sweetness intensities 10–100 times higher than that of sucrose evaluated by human sensory panel test. Their structures were established by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, mass spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy, and chemical method. Gypenoside YN 4 was the sweetest compound with a concentration of 15.504 ± 1.343 mg/kg, while gypenoside YN 12 has the highest concentration (1397.674 ± 12.948 mg/kg), as shown by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Structure-activity relationship analysis implied that the compounds’ sweetness intensity was associated with side-chain substitutions at C-20 or the number of glucosyl groups at C-3. These new plant-derived natural products may be potential natural sweeteners.

Biophysical and functional characterization of the human TAS1R2 sweet taste receptor overexpressed in a HEK293S inducible cell line

Sweet taste perception is mediated by a heterodimeric receptor formed by the assembly of the TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 subunits. TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 are class C G-protein-coupled receptors whose members share a common topology, including a large extracellular N-terminal domain (NTD) linked to a seven transmembrane domain (TMD) by a cysteine-rich domain. TAS1R2-NTD contains the primary binding site for sweet compounds, including natural sugars and high-potency sweeteners, whereas the TAS1R2-TMD has been shown to bind a limited number of sweet tasting compounds. To understand the molecular mechanisms governing receptor–ligand interactions, we overexpressed the human TAS1R2 (hTAS1R2) in a stable tetracycline-inducible HEK293S cell line and purified the detergent-solubilized receptor. Circular dichroism spectroscopic studies revealed that hTAS1R2 was properly folded with evidence of secondary structures. Using size exclusion chromatography coupled to light scattering, we found that the hTAS1R2 subunit is a dimer. Ligand binding properties were quantified by intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence. Due to technical limitations, natural sugars have not been tested. However, we showed that hTAS1R2 is capable of binding high potency sweeteners with Kd values that are in agreement with physiological detection. This study offers a new experimental strategy to identify new sweeteners or taste modulators that act on the hTAS1R2 and is a prerequisite for structural query and biophysical studies.

Low calorie cocoa-based products: a short review.

Globally, cocoa is considered an extensively consumed flavor across the food and beverage industry. However, the majority of cocoa products have a large amount of sugar and fat content. Therefore, manufacturers of cocoa-based products are focusing on the commercialization of healthier and innovative cocoa products that contain sugar and fat. High-quality and low-calorie cocoa products can be developed using the right ingredients which can replace fat and sugar without negative impact on the product characteristics. For sugar replacement nutritive sweeteners or sugar alcohols, non-nutritive sweeteners or high potency sweeteners and low digestibility carbohydrates are generally used. For fat substitution cocoa butter equivalents, cocoa butter replacers, cocoa butter substitutes along with vegetable fat and oil replacers are used. This review discusses the effect of sugar and fat substitution on the textural and rheological properties, sensory acceptance, and calorific value of the end cocoa-based products.

Post Brexit trade with the US

Post Brexit trade with the US

A Mini-Review on Molecular Docking Studies and Pharmacological Activities of Stevia rebaudiana

Stevia is a small perennial shrub belonging to the Astraceae family with approximately 240 species, which has been used as a natural sweetener. In addition to its sweetening property, it has medicinal values and other uses. Indigenous tribes of South America were using Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni for centuries for its medicinal value. Leaves of stevia produce diterpene glycosides (Stevioside and Rebaudiosides), non-nutritive, non-toxic, high-potency sweeteners. The traditional medicinal system is getting more and more appreciation nowadays, but the therapeutic targets for most of these medicines remain unclear, which slows down the novel drug discovery from these natural products. Computational molecular docking studies are effective tools, which are broadly utilized to identify therapeutic targets and interpret molecular aspects of the ligand-protein interactions during drug discovery. Thus, it also enables the extraordinary structural diversity of natural products to be harnessed in an effective manner. The aim of this article is to present a review on the molecular docking studies and pharmacological activities of steviol glycoside isolated from Stevia rebaudiana. In this article, the recently published papers about Stevia rebaudiana were reviewed, using scientific sites such as Mendeley, PubMed and Google Scholar.

Quantification of bitterness of coffee in the presence of high-potency sweeteners using taste sensors

Electronic tongues have been identified as useful tools for quantifying the taste of food and beverages. However, the bitterness evaluation of coffee in the presence of high-potency sweeteners has not been performed yet. In this study, we investigated an approach to quantify the bitterness of coffee with different roasting degrees and the sweetness of acesulfame potassium (Ace K) added to the coffee using taste sensors with lipid polymer membranes. A formula for predicting coffee bitterness with the addition of Ace K was proposed using the responses of a bitterness sensor and a sweetness sensor. We found that the predicted coffee bitterness showed a good correlation with human taste.

A Quantitative Method for Acesulfame K Using the Taste Sensor.

We have developed a method to quantify the sweetness of negatively charged high-potency sweeteners coexisting with other taste substances. This kind of sweetness sensor uses lipid polymer membranes as the taste-sensing part. Two types of outputs have been defined in the measurement of the taste sensor: one is the relative value and the other is the CPA (the change in membrane potential caused by adsorption) value. The CPA value shows a good selectivity for high-potency sweeteners. On the other hand, the relative value is several times higher than the CPA value, but the relative value is influenced by salty substances. In order to obtain both high sensitivity and selectivity, we established a model for predicting the concentration of sweeteners with a nonlinear regression analysis method using the relative values of both the sweetness sensor and the saltiness sensor. The analysis results showed good correlations with the estimated concentration of acesulfame potassium coexisting with salty substances, as represented by R2 = 0.99. This model can correspond well to the prediction of acesulfame K in a concentration of 0.2–0.7 mM, which is commonly used in food and beverages. The results obtained in this paper suggest that this method is useful for the evaluation of acesulfame K using the taste sensors.

Drying Temperature and Storage Period and Their Relation to Stevia Leaf Chemical Composition

Stevia (Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni)is a herbal plant with increasing attention due to its high potency sweetener worldwide. Nevertheless, its leaves are highly moisten and are susceptible to rapid degrade. Therefore, two field experiments were carried out at the experimental farm, Sakha Agric. Res. Station in Kafr El-Sheikh-Governorate, Egypt in 2017 and 2018 seasons, to study the effect of drying temperatures (60, 70, 80 and 90 °C) in addition to shade drying and storage period (one, two, three and four months) compared to the control (after harvest directly) on quality of stevia leaves. All combination treatments were allocated in randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications, where one cut (one harvest) was taken after 5 months from planting to determine the i. e. stevioside%, rebaudioside% rebaudioside/ stevioside ratio, carbohydrate content and weight loss during storage (storability) as well as correlation coefficient during both seasons of 2017 and 2018. The most important results showed that Increasing drying temperature to 90 °C positively significantly affected;(p ≤0.05) stevioside, rebaudioside and carbohydrate percentages. However decreased both the ratio between rebaudioside/stevioside and weight loss of leaves was obtained during both seasons. All storage times, significantly (p ≤0.05) decreased values of all studied characters during storage up to four months during the both seasons. Correlation coefficients indicated significant positive correlation ones among stevioside and rebaudioside and ratio of rebaudioside/ stevioside and carbohydrate%; however, storability recorded negative significant correlation with other characters under study in the both seasons.

A Review of Approaches in Steviol Glycosides Synthesis

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) is a commercially important plant worldwide. The leaves of stevia contain steviol glycosides which are non-caloric and high-potency sweeteners. They are suitable for substituting sucrose and other artificial sweetening agents. Stevia also has many therapeutic properties such as antidiabetic, anti-cariogenic, antimicrobial, anticancer and antioxidative. Rebaudioside A and stevioside are the major glycosides produced in stevia leaves. Development of new varieties of Stevia rebaudiana with a greater content of rebaudioside A and decreased content of stevioside is the main concern. This is due to rebaudioside A having a more desirable sweet flavour taste than stevioside which possesses bitter aftertaste. In respect to that, many biotechnological approaches are available for the industrial improvement and manipulation of steviol glycosides content in stevia. Transcriptome profiling has emerged as a useful tool to identify target genes involved in the steviol glycosides biosynthesis pathway. Understanding the mechanism and biosynthesis pathway of these compounds can help to improve the glycosides profile by up-regulating and down-regulating desired genes. The aim of this paper is to describe the latest development in the transcriptome profiling in stevia as well as to discuss the methods used in this endeavour.

Taste Sensor: Electronic Tongue with Lipid Membranes.

Taste is of five basic types, namely, sourness, saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and umami. In this review, we focus on a potentiometric taste sensor that we developed and fabricated using lipid polymer membranes. The taste sensor can measure the taste perceived by humans and is called an electronic tongue with global selectivity, which is the property to discriminate taste qualities and quantify them without discriminating each chemical substance. This property is similar to the gustatory system; hence, the taste sensor is a type of biomimetic device. In this paper, we first explain the sensing mechanism of the taste sensor, its application to beer evaluation and the measurement mechanism. Second, results recently obtained are introduced; i.e., the application of the senor to high-potency sweeteners and the improvement of the bitterness sensor are explained. Last, quantification of the bitterness-masking effect of high-potency sweeteners is explained using a regression analysis based on both the outputs of bitterness and sweetness sensors. The taste sensor provides a biomimetic method different from conventional analytical methods.

Perception of Bitter Taste through Time-Intensity Measurements as Influenced by Taste Modulation Compounds in Steviol Glycoside Sweetened Beverages

To limit sugar consumption and maintain sweetness levels in the diet, food and beverage developers often use high potency sweeteners (HPSs) as alternatives. Steviol glycosides are considered a consumer-friendly alternative but they are perceived to have a bitter taste accompanied by sweet and bitter lingering. Recently, taste modulators have been discovered that help to alleviate negative attributes like bitterness of HPSs. To show that taste modulation compounds (TMCs) decrease perceived bitterness associated with steviol glycosides, a trained descriptive panel (n = 9) performed a single-attribute time-intensity (TI) assessment over 2 min. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze TI curves and curve parameters (AUC, Imax and Tmax). Principal components analysis (PCA) was also used to assess TI curves. Results showed that statistically significant results depended on the analysis method. Bitterness perception was shown to persist less over 2 min for steviol glycosides with TMCs when assessing raw scores and parameters. The same was not found using differences from control curves or weighted curves from PCA. These findings demonstrate that particular TMCs may subtly decrease perceived bitterness of steviol glycosides. However, business objectives of TMC use may dictate what kind of analysis method to use when analyzing perceived bitter perception of TMCs over time.

Application of simplex lattice mixture design for optimization of sucrose-free milk chocolate produced in a ball mill

The aim of this study was to define optimal conditions by using Simplex lattice mixture design for the formulation of sucrose-free chocolate produced in a ball mill. Milk chocolate mass were made using three different polyols including maltitol, xylitol and isomalt along with Stevia as high potency sweetener. The influences of polyols mixtures as sucrose substitutes on rheological properties and main physical quality parameters were investigated. According to the results, the fitted models demonstrated a high coefficient of determination (≥93%). The optimization of the variables illustrated that utilizing 11.16% w/w maltitol, 8.9% w/w xylitol and 12.93% w/w isomalt produced the optimum milk chocolate with the highest desirability (1.00) without unwanted variations in the rheological and quality characteristics. Also the optimum formulation was produced to validate the optimum model. The sensory analysis of the optimized formulation satisfied the consumer demand.