Natural low-calorie sweeteners - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 51

Fig. 3.5 Concentration-response curves for stevioside and rebaudioside A in water.
Redrawn using the data of DuBois et al. (1991).

Applications
Because of the comparatively modest maximum sweetness attainable with
rebaudioside A (Fig. 3.5) and the impact of side tastes at higher concentrations, it
is not usually employed as a sole sweetener. Exceptions are fl avoured waters and
similar drinks of low sweetness.
However, the glycoside is an excellent partner in blends with both other HPS
and caloric sweeteners. Rebaudioside A is quantitatively synergistic with many
synthetic HPS (Schiffman et al. 1995) and, while it may seem odd to blend a
natural HPS with a synthetic one, the results can be remarkably good. With caloric
sweeteners too, all-natural systems can be developed that save up to 50% of
calories while retaining an excellent sweetness quality and a temporal profi le
close to sucrose.
Blends with erythritol are a special case. This polyol is qualitatively synergistic
with rebaudioside A and low concentrations of erythritol (1-3.5%) dramatically
improve the sweetness quality of the glycoside. This combination allows for even
greater calorie saving, owing to the very low energy contribution of erythritol.
Moreover, erythritol contributes its own sweetness additively to the blend.
The high stability of rebaudioside A means it can withstand all common heat
processes, including retorting, ultra-high temperature (UHT), high temperature
short time (HTST) and other pasteurisations. It can be baked with no detectable
loss (Fry et al. 2010). It is not attacked by the bacteria in yogurt cultures and can,
therefore, be added pre-pasteurisation. The glycoside is suited to a wide range of
carbonated and still beverages, including fl avoured milk and fruit juices. It is used
in powdered soft drink preparations, dairy products such as yogurt, ice cream and

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