HK1146460A - Stevia-containing tabletop sweeteners and methods of producing same - Google Patents

Description

Stevia-containing table sweetener and preparation method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising stevia sugar and a method of making the composition. The sweetener compositions of the present invention comprising stevia include simple sugars.

Background

People often flavor foods and beverages by adding sweeteners. For example, table sweeteners are added to beverages (e.g., coffee and tea), grains, and fruits, and also used as toppings for barbecued foods. Increasing the sweetness of a food or beverage with a table sweetener can alter the taste of the food or beverage, often increasing appetite. This practice is used in various worldwide food and drink cultures, but is particularly prevalent in western cultures.

Individual tastes vary, which results in a wide variation in the preference of one person as compared to another, in the amount of sweetener added to a given food or beverage. For example, the amount of sweetener added to a food product during commercial production may be too small for some consumers and too large for others. In addition, consumers often desire reduced caloric intake for health or lifestyle considerations. Thus, there has been a long felt need for tabletop sweetener products: the consumer can use the table sweetener to increase the sweetness of the product, and the consumption amount of the sweetener can meet the personal preference of the consumer, and the extra calorie burden can be reduced to the maximum extent.

Table sweeteners are the primary means to achieve this customization of taste. Currently available tabletop sweeteners come in a variety of forms including granular, tablet, cohesive non-self-flowing compositions (e.g., cubes), and the like.

Many types of sweeteners are available for use as table sweeteners. Including natural sweeteners such as sucrose (i.e., cane sugar), honey, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, fruit juice sweeteners, barley malt, stevia, etc., and artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, and the like.

The common sweeteners have slightly different tastes and are loved by consumers. Many sweeteners impart a bit of bitterness to the food they sweeten. Saccharin, for example, is a sweetener known to impart bitterness. Other sweeteners have other taste components such as a lingering metallic taste, a cooling sensation or a drying sensation, or a combination of the above. Food ingredients have been used to reduce bitterness. For example, saccharin is typically sold in sachets containing tartaric acid. In addition, some recent agencies (such as the Linguagen company) have disclosed certain compounds that can interfere with the signaling pathways of taste bud receptors, thereby blocking bitter taste.

The most common sweeteners are nutritive sweeteners. Nutritive sweeteners provide not only sweetness but also blood flow and are metabolized into energy for immediate use by the body or for storage as fat. Nutritive sweeteners are typically extracted from plants that produce different amounts of sweetener for different uses. For example, the widely used nutritive sweetener sucrose can be prepared from a variety of sources (e.g., sugar cane and sugar beet root).

Sugar alcohols are another form of sweetener. Sugar alcohols have a very different sweetness, from about half the sweetness of sucrose to about the same sweetness as sucrose. Thus, sugar alcohols may be used instead of sugars. Sugar alcohols contain about one-half to three-quarters the amount of heat per unit weight of sugar. Sugar alcohols are slowly but incompletely absorbed from the small intestine into the blood. The absorbed sugar alcohol is converted to energy by metabolic processes that do not require or require small amounts of insulin. Thus, such sweeteners may be useful for diabetics or for people who consume only low carbohydrates.

High intensity sweeteners are well known alternatives to nutritive sweeteners. High potency sweeteners provide sweetness, but do not provide the heat and other metabolic effects of nutritive sweeteners. In many cases, high intensity sweeteners provide better sweetness than nutritive sweeteners. Some high intensity sweeteners, such as aspartame, are nutritive, but produce negligible amounts of calories because of the high degree of sweetness that is used in very small quantities. Other high intensity sweeteners, such as sucralose, are not absorbed upon ingestion and are therefore non-nutritive sweeteners.

Often, manufacturers or users of these sweeteners add additional components to such sweeteners to reduce undesirable tastes, such as bitterness. For example, tartar may be added to saccharin to counteract bitterness, and 2, 4-dihydroxybenzoic acid may be added to sucralose to control lingering sweetness.

Stevia sugar is a non-caloric natural sweetener extracted from Stevia rebaudiana bertoni (Stevia rebaudiana bertoni). The plant can produce a variety of sweet compounds, collectively known as steviol glycosides, making stevia 300 times sweeter than sucrose. These glycosides can be extracted from the plant with water and other solvents well known to those skilled in the art. These glycosides have heat-stable, pH-stable and non-fermentable properties and do not elicit a glycemic response.

Among all glycosides present in stevia extracts, rebaudioside a (rebaudioside a) is known to have the least aftertaste. This aftertaste is described by many as bitter and licorice-like, and is present in all stevia extracts today. Despite the many advantageous properties of stevia extracts, it is clearly desirable to improve their taste characteristics.

Like all sweetener compositions containing high intensity sweeteners, sweetener compositions containing stevia typically have a bulking agent to facilitate weighing and dispensing into the user's application. Fillers disclosed or used include FOS and other fibers, maltodextrin, and erythritol. Erythritol is particularly popular because it can reduce some of the bitter taste.

Surprisingly, we have discovered sweetener compositions in which the bitter/licorice taste of rebaudioside a is modulated by simple sugars (e.g., refined sucrose) rather than compound sweeteners (e.g., maple and molasses). This finding was unexpected because complex carbohydrates have an inherent, multiple taste that tends to "mask" the licorice taste from rebaudioside. More unexpectedly, simple sugars with only sweetness can reduce the licorice flavor from rebaudioside a, even though such sugars provide less than half of the total sweetness of the sweetener composition. Thus, surprisingly, sweetener compositions formed by combining low stevia sugar levels, high purity rebaudioside a, and refined simple sugars (such as sucrose or fructose) contain stevia with a much lower characteristic licorice flavor.

Such compositions have not been used previously since the use of simple sugars in formulations that are sugar substitutes in nature is clearly contradictory.

Disclosure of Invention

A low-calorie sweetener composition comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of stevia extract and simple sugars, wherein stevia provides a sweet taste of from about 20% to about 97% and has a rebaudioside a content of from about 80% to about 99% by weight (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

A sweetener composition comprising, consisting of and/or consisting essentially of stevia and simple sugars, wherein the simple sugars are selected from the group consisting of: sucrose, fructose, glucose, and mixtures thereof, and wherein stevia has a rebaudioside a content of from about 80% to about 99% by weight (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

A low-calorie sweetener composition comprising from about 2% to about 4% by weight stevia extract and from about 90% to about 98% by weight simple sugars, consisting of from about 2% to about 4% by weight stevia extract and from about 90% to about 98% by weight simple sugars, and/or consisting essentially of from about 2% to about 4% by weight stevia extract and from about 90% to about 98% by weight simple sugars, wherein stevia has a rebaudioside a content of from about 80% to about 99% by weight (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

Detailed Description

As used herein, the term "high intensity sweetener" refers to a substance that is more sweet per unit mass and has little or no nutritional value as compared to nutritive sweeteners. Many high intensity sweeteners are known to those skilled in the art and any can be used in the present invention. Examples of high intensity sweeteners useful in the present invention include, for example, aspartame, acesulfame, alitame, brazzein, cyclamic acid, dihydrochalcones, extracts of dioscoprophyllum cumminsi, extracts of the fruit of pentaliplandra brazzeana, glycyrrhizin, hernandulcin, monellin, mogroside, neotame, neohesperidin, saccharin, sucralose, sweet plant (such as stevia) extracts, thaumatin, salts and combinations thereof. A preferred high intensity sweetener according to the present invention is sucralose.

As used herein, the term "sugar alcohol" refers to a food grade alcohol derived from a sugar molecule. Sugar alcohols useful in the present invention include, for example, isomalt (isomalt), erythritol, hydrogenated isomaltulose, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof.

As used herein, a "food-grade" material refers to a material that meets the "standards for food considered safe for human consumption" set forth in CodexAlimentarius (1999 edition of food code) by the world health organization.

As used herein, per gram (or other given amount) of sucrose equivalent sweetness ("SES") refers to the amount of high intensity sweetener that needs to be added in 8 ounces of water to provide the same sweetness as 8 ounces of water containing one gram (or other given amount) of sucrose. For example, 1/200g aspartame equates to about 1g SES because aspartame is about 200 times more sweet than sucrose. Likewise, about 1/500g to about 1/600g of sucralose may provide 1g of SES because sucralose has a sweetness that is about 500 to about 600 times that of sucrose.

As used herein, all numerical ranges provided are intended to expressly include at least all numbers that fall between the endpoints of the ranges.

Preferably, the sweetener compositions of the present invention comprise from about 1 gram to about 10 grams SES.

A purely sweet sweetener composition can be made from stevia extract, provided certain preconditions are met. First, stevia extract enriched with rebaudioside a is used. Secondly, bulking agents are defined as simple sugars, in particular sweet mono-and disaccharides. Third, stevia extract provides no more than 97% of the total sweetness of the sweetener composition.

Stevioside

The stevioside is an extract of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni (Stevia Rebaudiana composite Bertoni) of the south American wild plant. Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a wild plant in south america, originally found in paraguay, but this plant and its extracts have been used as sweeteners in south america and many countries in asia, including japan and china, for many years. This plant is also well known in the united states and, according to local current legal regulations, is sold as a dietary supplement rather than a sweetener. Stevia, as used herein, refers to stevia extracts of this plant, a wide variety of steviol glycosides present within this plant, stevioside and rebaudioside refer to specific steviol glycosides.

Stevioside (also sometimes referred to as stevioside, (13- [ (2-O- β -D-glucopyranosyl) oxo ] -kauri-16-ene-18-carboxylic acid-4 α - β -D-glucopyranosyl ester)) and rebaudioside a are exemplary glycosides of the diterpene derivative steviol, extracted and refined from the leaves of "stevia" (also referred to as eupatorium rebaudianum bertoni). These glycosides are high intensity sweeteners that are about 100 to about 500 times as sweet as sucrose, but have a metallic and bitter taste. Can be used in various low calorie foods and beverages.

Other sweet glycosides can also be extracted from stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. These glycosides differ in sweetness from each other. As used herein, "stevia extract" refers to sweet glycosides extracted from the stevia plant. Table 1 includes typical glycoside compositions in stevia plant leaves.

TABLE 1

Glycosides in stevia rebaudiana leavesDistribution of

Methods for the selective extraction of one or the other glycoside have been disclosed.

As shown in table 1, the major steviol glycosides present in this plant are called stevioside. Stevioside typically makes up about 57% of the glycosides in stevia extracts.

Table 1 lists other glycosides present in small amounts in this plant. Each with different sweetness and taste characteristics. Stevia has several different grades, the higher the rebaudioside a content, the higher the grade, because the level of bitterness of rebaudioside a is lower. For these compositions, the rebaudioside a content of the stevia extract is preferably greater than 80% by weight (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides), more preferably 90% by weight, and even more preferably greater than 95%.

There are many products containing stevia extract. Table 2 shows common products available from japan and the united states. Stevia extracts are typically mixed with the filling ingredients to provide a user with a controlled amount to add to any food product for which sweetening is desired. For example, sold by Wisdom Natural BrandsThe branded stevia product is filled with maltodextrin or FOS. If no bulking agent is included, the amount of stevia sweetener required is from about 20 to about 25mg, since stevia has a sweetness of about 300 times that of sucrose. This level is too low to be accurately removed from a sachet or other conventional sweetener package. Other bulking agents that may be used include sugar alcohols, such as erythritol. As with other high intensity sweetener products (such asSplenda (No Calorie sweetner) orBrand sweeteners), the amount of filler is typically the minimum amount that will accurately deliver the sweetener.

Table 2 also shows the ratio of bulking agent to stevioside, as well as the sweetness contributed by stevioside in the case where the bulking agent contributes sweetness (as when using sugar alcohols as bulking agents) in currently known products. It is also shown that the approximate amount of stevia sugar is required in the composition required to deliver an equivalent sweetness of 1g of sugar in water.

Several conclusions can be drawn by observing the current product data provided in table 2. All products require greater than about 6.7mg of stevia extract to deliver a teaspoon of SES, mostly about 20 mg. In addition, most stevia provides most of the sweetness in most cases. One exception is stevia filled products, where a sweet sugar alcohol is used as a bulking agent. In this product, stevioside provides about 30% sweetness. However, this product uses standard stevia extract, which, despite dilution with sugar alcohols, still has a licorice flavor.

The amount of any particular ingredient or combination of ingredients used in the compositions of the present invention may be expressed in weight percent, sweetness contribution, or milligrams of stevioside per SES. For the present invention, 99% of rebaudioside a was considered to have a sweetness intensity of 330, 90% of rebaudioside a was considered to have a sweetness intensity of 310, 80% of rebaudioside a was considered to have a sweetness intensity of 291, and stevia extract (about 40% of rebaudioside a) was considered to have a sweetness intensity of 180. It is well known that sweetness intensity varies with concentration. FIG. 1 (taken from "Use of Stevia Rebaudiana sweenters in Japan", Kenji Mizutani et al) shows concentration profiles of Stevia extract and rebaudioside A. For the present invention, the intensity selected is comparable to the desired intensity in a standard cup of coffee (about 2tsp sucrose).

The sweetness contribution of a high concentration rebaudioside a stevia extract can be any amount less than about 96.5%, preferably between about 96.5% and about 50%, more preferably between about 93.3% and about 50%, even more preferably between about 93.3% and about 85%. Although lower concentrations of rebaudioside may provide a purer taste, the use of lower concentrations of rebaudioside may increase caloric content to unacceptable levels in the case of caloric content of the simple sugars used in the compositions of the invention. The sweetness intensity can be any level that conforms to the preferred ratio between simple sugars and stevioside.

In the compositions of the present invention, the stevia extract can be any purified extract in which the relative proportion of rebaudioside a to stevioside is increased over the relative proportion in natural stevia leaves. The concentration is preferably greater than 80 wt%, more preferably greater than 96.5 wt%, even more preferably greater than 95 wt% based on all sweet steviol glycosides.

Simple sugar：

The simple sugar may be any sweet mono-or disaccharide, including, but not limited to, sucrose, glucose or fructose, or a combination thereof. Preferably sucrose and fructose. The simple sugars are also preferably refined to remove brown sweetness, especially molasses and caramel notes. The level of non-polymeric materials (such as FOS) with the lowest sweetness should also be minimized.

Other sweeteners

Other sweeteners that may be added to the stevia-simple sugar composition include fructooligosaccharides, trehalose, sugar alcohols, tagatose, nutritive sugars, high intensity sweeteners, and mixtures thereof.

Other Components

The composition may contain other components including flavors, fragrances, other nutritional components, binders, and mixtures thereof.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term "flavoring agent" refers to any food-grade material that can be added to the compositions of the present invention to provide a desired flavor to a food. Flavoring agents useful in the present invention include, for example, cream, hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, walnut, lemon, lime, raspberry, peach, mango, vanillin, butter, butterscotch, tea, orange, tangerine, caramel, strawberry, banana, grape, plum, cherry, blueberry, pineapple, elderberry, watermelon, bubble gum, melon, guava, kiwi, papaya fruit, coconut, mint, spearmint, derivatives and combinations thereof.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term "aroma" refers to any food grade volatile material that can produce a desired aroma when mixed with food, for example. Fragrances for use in the present invention include, for example, essential oils (citrus oil), expressed oils (orange oil), distilled oils (rose oil), extracts (fruits), anethole (licorice, anise seed, anise wine, fennel), anisole (anise seed), benzaldehyde (almond sugar, almond kernel), benzyl alcohol (almond sugar, almond kernel), camphor (camphor tree), cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), citral (citronella oil, lemon oil), d-limonene (orange), ethyl butyrate (pineapple), eugenol (clove oil), furanone (strawberry), furfural (caramel), linalool (coriander, rosewood), menthol (peppermint), methyl butyrate (apple, pineapple), methyl salicylate (wintergreen oil), neral (neral), neroli ether (neroli), amyl butyrate (pear, apricot), amyl valerate (apple, pineapple), amyl butyrate (apple, pineapple), and mixtures thereof, Fenugreek lactone (maple syrup, curry, tonka), strawberry ketone (strawberry), substituted pyrazines (such as 2-ethoxy-3-isopropylpiperazine, 2-methoxy-3-sec-butylpiperazine and 2-methoxy-3-methylpiperazine) (fenugreek, cumin and coriander oven-dried seeds), thujone (juniper, common sage, nootkatoka and wormwood), thymol (camphors), trimethylamine (fish), vanillin (vanilla), and combinations thereof. Preferred fragrance components according to the present invention include essential oils (citrus oil), expressed oils (orange oil), distilled oils (rose oil), extracts (fruit), benzaldehyde, d-limonene, furfural, menthol, methyl butyrate, pentyl butyrate, and salts, derivatives, and combinations thereof.

The fragrance may be present in the composition in any amount. Preferably, the fragrance component is present in an amount from about 2 times to about 10 times the appreciable amount. More preferably, the fragrance component is present in an amount from about 2 times to about 5 times the appreciable amount. As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term "appreciable amount" is the amount of a fragrance component required to produce a perceptible aroma in a food product.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term "binder" refers to any food grade material suitable for facilitating the compression and shaping of tablets. The selection of a suitable binder is not critical, and suitable binders include any commonly used binder, so long as the binder does not significantly affect the self-mixing or organoleptic properties of the food product. Non-limiting examples of suitable binders that may be used in the present invention include microcrystalline cellulose, tragacanth, gelatin, leucine, lactose, and combinations thereof. Preferably, the binder (if used) is present in an amount of about 10% to about 15% by weight of the total composition.

Preparation method

The compositions of the present invention may be prepared by any method known to those skilled in the art that results in a homogenous or homogeneous mixture of ingredients. These methods include dry blending, spray drying, agglomeration, wet granulation, compression, co-crystallization, and the like.

The sweetener composition may be packaged in sachets or sachets, dissolvable sweet bars, sprays, drops, bulk sweeteners, cubes, or any standard sugar form. Unit dosage forms like sachets and cubes may contain from about 2 to about 10g of SES. The bulk product may be formulated to contain from about 2 to about 100g of SES per teaspoon volume.

The sweetener compositions of the present invention can be provided to the consumer in any form suitable for delivery to the food to be sweetened, including sachets, packets, bulk bags or boxes, cubes, tablets, mists, drops, or dissolvable strips. The compositions may be delivered in unit dose or batch form.

The unit dose can be any customized dose, such as a gram, a cup, or a teaspoon. These unit forms typically contain from about 2 to about 10g of SES. The compositions of the present invention can deliver from about 0.02 to about 0.001g of stevioside per unit package, more preferably from about 0.005 to about 0.0015g of stevioside per unit package, and even more preferably from about 0.003 to about 0.0020g of stevioside per unit package.

The compositions of the present invention can provide from about 1 to about 12kcal per teaspoon of SES.

The examples provided below further illustrate the compositions and methods of the present invention. These examples are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Examples of the invention

Example 1

Mixing 100g ofRefined sugar (sucrose) brand refined and stevia extract (idyllife co., Ltd. (santamar, MD)) 2.12g (rebaudioside a concentration of 99 wt% based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides) were mixed and dry blended by sequential cutting and remixing (e.g., type V blending). The resulting mixture had a calculated SES of 8 grams of sucrose per gram (the sweetness intensity of rebaudioside a was calculated as 330 times that of sucrose reported).

TABLE 3-1

Example 2

The 2g blend of example 1 (sample A) and 2 bags (about 2g) were packaged using a Flavia brand coffee machine (Flavia Beverage Systems (West Chester, PA))Stevia (Wisdom Natural Brands (Gilbert, AZ)) (sample B) was mixed with 160g of hot water. Each sample B used contained about 2 teaspoons SES and 1g FOS as specified on the package. Thus, each package had an equivalent SES equivalent to about a 10% sucrose solution dissolved in 160g of water. Typically, stevia extracts contain less than about 40% rebaudioside a.

TABLE 3-2

The samples were tasted hot by three tasters. It is agreed that the two samples are approximately the same sweetness. Sample a was relatively pure in sweetness and free of off-flavors other than sugar. Sample B was bitter in flavor with licorice flavor.

Example 3

Five samples were prepared. Each sample was melted with 8 ounces of hot water supplied by a Flavia brand coffee machine (West Chester, Pa.).

Sample A1 bagSplenda (r) brand no calorie sweeteners (McNeil Nutritionals,

LLC(Ft.Washington，PA))

sample B1.2 g of the blend of example 1

Sample C1.74 g of the blend of example 1

Sample D8 g sucrose

Sample E1 g Fine granulated sugar (sucrose)

The samples were tasted hot and the sweetness evaluated as follows: a is slightly sweeter than C, C is sweeter than B and D, B and D are approximately the same sweetness and are much sweeter than E, which is hardly tasted.

Example 4

Four samples were prepared, each using 8 ouncesBrand blueberry tea (FlaviaBeverage Systems (West Chester, PA)) melts.

Sample A1 bagCaloric-free sweetAgents (McNeil Nutritionals,

LLC(Ft.Washington，PA))

sample B1.2 g of the blend of example 1

Sample C1 bagTablet stevioside

Sample D8 g sucrose

Three tasters tasted the samples and judged the preference and bitterness. The following consensus evaluations were obtained: preference degree: a outperforms B and D, which are very similar and both outperforms C. Bitterness: a and D are the same, slightly less bitter than B, which is much less bitter than C.

Example 5

Four samples were prepared, each using 8 ouncesThe Rubus Suavissimus leaf (Raspberry leaf Tea) is dissolved.

Sample A1 Package SpLENDA brand non-caloric Sweetener

Sample B1.2 g of the blend of example 1

Sample C1 bagTablet stevioside

Sample D8 g sucrose

Three tasters tasted the samples and judged the preference and bitterness. The following consensus evaluations were obtained: preference degree: b is slightly better than A, A is slightly better than D and far better than C. Bitterness: A. b and D are similarly bitter, less than C.

Example 6

Two additional samples were prepared, and the samples were melted with 8 ounces of hot water supplied by a flava brand coffee machine (West Chester, PA).

Sample a 12g agave nectar (70% solids, fully hydrolyzed agave inulin (fructose)), 8g water and 0.21g stevia extract (Idyll Life co., Ltd. (manglo) thailand), which has 99 wt.% rebaudioside a (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

Sample B10 g AUNTCrystal brand molasses (GloryBee Foods, Inc (Eugene, OR)), 10g of water, 0.212g of stevia extract (Idyll Life co., ltd., (thailanmuk)), which has 99% by weight of rebaudioside a (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

Tables 3 to 6

The fructose blend has a pure sweet taste and tastes little bitter. Molasses blends are sweeter but have an unpleasant bitter taste.

Example 7

Two samples were prepared.

Sample a 100g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 2.12g stevia extract (idyl lifeco., Ltd. (mangrove, thailand)) having 99 wt.% rebaudioside a (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

Sample B100 g FOS (Orafti North America (Malvern, PA)) and 2.12g stevia extract (idyllife co., Ltd. (manglo, thailand)) having 99 wt.% rebaudioside a (based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides).

Tables 3 to 7

One teaspoon of each sample of the a sweetness was dissolved in 4 ounces of hot water prepared with a flava brand coffee machine (West Chester, PA) and tasted by two tasting members. The two samples were judged to be of equal sweetness. Sample a had a pure sweet taste, while sample B was slightly bitter.

Examples of the invention8

Triplicate samples were prepared using the same materials as in example 7 and tested with sample a of example 7.

Sample A100 g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 2.12g stevia extract

(from example 7)

Sample B50 g FOS and 2.12g stevia extract

Sample C25 g FOS and 2.12g stevia extract

Sample D5 g FOS and 2.12g stevia extract

One teaspoon of each sample of the a sweetness was dissolved in 6 ounces of hot water prepared with a flava brand coffee machine (West Chester, PA) and tasted by two tasting members. Samples a and B had a sweet taste and no bitterness, sample C had a very slightly bitter taste, and sample D was very bitter.

The sweetness contribution of each sample was calculated as follows:

the sweetness of sample A87.5 is derived from rebaudioside A

The sweetness of sample B93.3 is derived from rebaudioside A

Sweetness of sample C96.5 was from rebaudioside A

Sweetness of sample D99.3 was from rebaudioside A

Example 9

The four samples of example 8 were mixed at varying levels in 6 ounces of hot water prepared by a flava brand coffee machine (West Chester, PA) to obtain approximately equal sweetness levels. Equivalent sweetness levels were calculated on the basis of about 4 teaspoons of SES and assuming that the stevia sweetness intensity is 330 times that of sucrose.

Sample A2.04 g

Sample B1.12 g

Sample C0.60 g

Sample D0.16 g

It was found that sample a had a sweet taste and no bitter taste, sample B had a very slightly unpleasant taste, sample C had a slightly unpleasant taste and a very slightly bitter taste, and sample D had an unpleasant taste and a slightly bitter taste.

Example 10

Four samples were prepared:

sample a 10g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 0.2123g stevia extract (99% rebaudioside a) (idyllife co., ltd., (mangle in thailand))

Sample B10 g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 0.2295g Stevia extract (90% rebaudioside A) (Zibo Inchcape Stevia Co (Shandong, China))

Sample C10 g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 0.2500g Stevia extract (80% rebaudioside A) (Zibo Inchcape Stevia Co (Shandong, China))

Sample D10 g sucrose (refined granulated sugar) and 0.3889g Stevia extract (standard extract, containing about 24% rebaudioside A) (Zibo Inchcape Stevia Co (Shandong, China))

2g of each sample was dissolved in 6 ounces of hot water prepared by a Flavia brand coffee machine (Flavia beer Systems (West Chester, Pa)), and then tasted. It was found that samples a and B had a sweet taste and no bitter taste, sample C had a very slight unpleasant taste and sample D had a pronounced bitter taste.

These samples were judged to be equally sweet.

The scope of the invention is not limited to the descriptions, examples and suggested uses herein, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control.

Claims (21)

1. A reduced calorie sweetener composition comprising a stevia extract and a simple sugar, wherein the stevia extract provides from about 20% to about 97% sweetness and contains from about 80% to about 99.5% rebaudioside a by weight of the total amount of all steviol glycosides.

2. A sweetener composition according to claim 1 where the stevia provides from about 85% to about 97% sweetness.

3. A sweetener composition according to claim 1 where the sweetener composition has an SES of between about 0.01 and about 1 kcal/g.

4. A sweetener composition according to claim 1 further comprising an ingredient from the group consisting of: flavors, fragrances, nutritional ingredients, and combinations thereof.

5. A sweetener composition according to claim 1 where the sweetener composition has a form selected from the group consisting of: non-flowable solids, powders, solutions, slurries and suspensions.

6. A sweetener composition according to claim 1 where the sweetener composition is packaged in unit doses of: grams, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pounds, kilograms, multiples thereof, and SES equivalents thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1, comprising less than about 1% of the sweet taste derived from the polymeric sweetener.

8. A sweetener composition comprising stevia sugar and a simple sugar selected from the group consisting of: sucrose, fructose, glucose, and mixtures thereof, wherein the steviol glycoside comprises rebaudioside a in an amount of from about 80% to about 99% by weight based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides.

9. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 where the stevioside provides from about 88% to about 97% sweetness.

10. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 where the sweetener composition has an SES of between about 0.5 and about 1 kcal/g.

11. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 further comprising an ingredient from the group consisting of: flavors, fragrances, nutritional ingredients, and combinations thereof.

12. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 where the sweetener composition has a form selected from the group consisting of: non-flowable solids, powders, solutions, slurries and suspensions.

13. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 where the sweetener composition is packaged in a unit dose selected from the following units: SES, weight, volume, and combinations thereof.

14. A sweetener composition according to claim 8 where the simple sugar is selected from the group consisting of: sucrose, fructose, glucose, and mixtures thereof.

15. A low-calorie sweetener composition comprising from about 2% to about 4% by weight stevia extract and from about 92% to about 98% by weight simple sugars, wherein the stevia contains from about 80% to about 99% by weight rebaudioside a based on the total amount of all steviol glycosides.

16. A sweetener composition according to claim 15 where the stevioside provides from about 88% to about 97% sweetness.

17. A sweetener composition according to claim 16 where the sweetener composition has an SES of between about 0.5 and about 1 kcal/g.

18. A sweetener composition according to claim 16 further comprising an ingredient from the group consisting of: flavors, fragrances, nutritional ingredients, and combinations thereof.

19. A sweetener composition according to claim 16 where the sweetener composition has a form selected from the group consisting of: non-flowable solids, powders, solutions, slurries and suspensions.

20. A sweetener composition according to claim 16 where the sweetener composition is packaged in a unit dose selected from the following units: grams, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pounds, kilograms, multiples thereof, and SES equivalents thereof.

21. A sweetener composition according to claim 16 where the simple sugar is selected from the group consisting of: sucrose, fructose, glucose, and mixtures thereof.