Natural sweeteners
Mintel says highlighting sugar reduction front-of-pack may be a
missed opportunity for food companies. Despite strong consumer
demand for products with reduced or no added sugar, the number
of new products in Europe carrying such claims has hovered at
around 5% since 2010, according to its database, although some
countries, such as the UK, have seen more activities in this area.
Stevia and monk fruit are the best known naturally derived high-
intensity sweeteners, but there are others, including a range of
ingredients extracted from West African plants and fruits, such as
brazzein, monellin, miraculin and thaumatin. Thaumatin can be used
as a low-calorie sweetener, but its sweetness is very slow-building
and lingering, so it is usually used for flavour modification rather
than as a standalone sweetener. On the other hand, brazzein has a
more sugar-like sweetness than thaumatin, and is complementary
to stevia, offsetting its aftertaste. Meanwhile, miraculin is not sweet
in itself, but binds to sweet taste receptors on the tongue so that
sour-tasting foods are perceived as sweet. Finally, monellin works
well with bulk sweeteners to reduce persistent sweetness. However,
these ingredients come with restrictions. Some are too costly to
grow and extract on a commercial scale, whilst others have come
up against regulatory stumbling blocks in certain regions. Brazzein,
monellin and miraculin are not heat-stable, meaning they can’t
be used in processed foods, and monellin and miraculin are pH-
dependent, meaning they lose their sweetness in certain products.
Enzymes for sweeter sugars
In dairy, differentiating between naturally occurring and added
sugars could be particularly beneficial, as some consumers may
be put off by the high amount of sugar that occurs naturally in
dairy products. Plain yoghurt contains about 5g of sugar per 100g,
but all of that is lactose.
It is also possible to enhance the sweetness in dairy without using
any additional sugar or sweeteners, by simply manipulating the
lactose. Used for decades to make lactose-free dairy products,
enzyme companies are now promoting lactase for its ability to
break lactose into glucose and galactose, thereby increasing
its sweetness. Another enzymatic approach to sugar reduction
is to use invertase, which breaks down sucrose into glucose and
fructose, and works on much the same principle: splitting sugar
into its individual monosaccharides enhances sweetness without
increasing calories.
Sweetness without sweeteners
Alongside sweeteners, food companies are turning to other
natural approaches to boost sweetness in sugar-reduced
products. According to analysts at Leatherhead Food Research,
manufacturers are looking at more creative solutions, such as using
vanilla, which is associated with sweetness, but does not provide
sweetness in itself, and strawberry esters and caramel flavours are
being used in a similar way.
Consumers wising up to sugar
Some manufacturers are looking at natural alternatives to sugar,
such as honey, fruit juice concentrates, agave and brown rice
syrup, but consumers are wising up to sugar in all its guises. Besides,
all these options can still contribute to tooth decay and expanding
waistlines – and would still need to be listed as “added sugars” on
product labels in the US.
Colorado start-up, MycoTechnology, has developed a platform to
remove bitter flavours associated with stevia, monk fruit and other
food ingredients with bitter notes. The platform is a fermentation
technology that uses strains of fungi that consume molecules
associated with bitterness.
Source: Source: https://bites.figlobal.com
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