Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with brand names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel. Aspartame was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and then again in 1981, after approval was revoked in 1980.
Stevia is a sweet sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana native to Paraguay and Brazil.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. As the majority of ingested sucralose is not metabolized by the body, it adds no calories. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of sucrose, selectively replacing three of the hydroxy groups—in the C1 and C6 positions of the fructose portion and the C4 position of the glucose portion—to give a 1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxyfructose–4-chloro-4-deoxygalactose disaccharide. Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than sucrose, three times as sweet as both aspartame and acesulfame potassium, and twice as sweet as sodium saccharin.
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets.
Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to neohesperidin DC or simply NHDC, is an artificial sweetener derived from citrus.
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of Heliconius butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body.
Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar and/or caloric intake.
Saponins, also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed but found particularly in soapwort, a flowering plant, the soapbark tree and soybeans. They are used in soaps, medicines, fire extinguishers, speciously as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin and quillaia, a bark extract used in beverages.
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant species in the genus Stevia of the family Asteraceae. It is commonly known as candyleaf, sweetleaf or sugarleaf.
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin and aspartame. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness itself.
Gymnema sylvestre is a perennial woody vine native to Asia, Africa and Australia. It has been used in Ayurvedic medicine. Common names include gymnema, Australian cowplant, and Periploca of the woods, and the Hindi term gurmar, which means "sugar destroyer".
Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients of many sweeteners marketed under the generic name stevia and several trade names. They also occur in the related species S. phlebophylla and in the plant Rubus chingii (Rosaceae).
Steviol is a diterpene first isolated from the plant Stevia rebaudiana in 1931. Its chemical structure was not fully elucidated until 1960.
Rebiana is the trade name for high-purity rebaudioside A, a steviol glycoside that is 200 times as sweet as sugar. It is derived from stevia leaves by steeping them in water and purifying the resultant extract to obtain the rebaudioside A. The Coca-Cola Company filed patents on rebiana, and in 2007 it licensed the rights to the patents for food products to Cargill; Coca-Cola retained the exclusive rights to use the patents for beverage products. Truvia and PureVia are each made from rebiana and were each recognized as GRAS food ingredients by the US FDA in 2008.
The enzyme ent-kaurene synthase catalyzes the chemical reaction
PureVia is a stevia-based low calorie sugar substitute developed jointly by PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of artificial sweetener manufacturing company Merisant.
Rebaudioside A is a steviol glycoside from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana that is 240 times sweeter than sugar. Rebaudioside A is the sweetest and most stable steviol glycoside, and is less bitter than stevioside. Stevia leaves contain 9.1% stevioside and 3.8% rebaudioside A.
PureCircle is a producer and innovator in the area of stevia sweeteners for the food and beverage industry. PureCircle has offices around the world, with the headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Ingredion in July 2020.
Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the family Asteraceae, native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America.
