Intensive sweeteners

Sweeteners give products the necessary taste qualities (sweetness), increase the shelf life of products and help reduce production costs. Elements such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, cyclamate and stevioside are widely used in the production of dietary products, as well as goods for diabetics. There is no glucose fragment in them and insulin is not required for their processing in the body.

Intense sweeteners have a non-sugar nature, but are ten times sweeter than sugar. For example, sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar, saccharin is 300 times sweeter, and aspartame is 200 times sweeter.
Natural and synthetic sweeteners: sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, stevioside
Sweeteners are divided into synthetic and natural. The list of natural ones includes stevioside and Luo Han Guo (Lo Han Guo), as well as neohesperidine dihydrochalcone.

• Stevioside is about 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is produced from the leaves of the stevia plant.
• Luo Han Guo (Lo Han Guo, momordica fruit, arhat fruit) has a sweetness 100-400 times sweeter than sugar. The fruits of this plant grow in the southern provinces of China.

Neohesperidin refers to natural conditionally, since it is produced chemically. Neohesperidin is the result of grapefruit modification.
Synthetic analogues are more in demand, which demonstrate better taste and performance characteristics and are more affordable. The old generation of synthetic sweeteners is saccharin and cyclamates, the new generation is acesulfame K, aspartame, sucralose. Moreover, sucralose is made from sucrose.
At the same time, manufacturers often use mixtures of different substances, since their taste is better, and the sweetness coefficient is higher.

Scope of application

Intensive sweeteners are used in the preparation of:

• soft drinks;
• bread and bakery products;
• mayonnaise and ketchup;
• dairy products;
• canned vegetables and fruits;

Thanks to the use of sweetening elements, the company reduces transportation and storage costs, because their volume is several times less than that of sugar. When using sweeteners, the probability of penetration of bacteria is lower, and their price, in comparison with sugar, is very attractive. The stage of sugar syrup preparation is excluded from the production cycle, which also helps to reduce costs.
When choosing a sweetener, it is important to evaluate its stability during storage. If your products need to be stored for a long time, it is better to use the most resistant sweeteners, such as acesulfame K and sucralose.