Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
frozen desserts, and can be employed in sugar-free confectionery, including hard
candy and mints. It is effective in cereal products and, of course, as a table-top
sweetener.
Regulatory status
As mentioned, the steviol glycosides have a JECFA ADI. In the US they are
GRAS as a result of multiple successful applications to the FDA by various
suppliers. There is a Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) specifi cation for rebaudioside
A and the glycoside may also be described in ingredient lists as 'reb A' or 'rebiana'.
This last name has been established as a common name for rebaudioside A meeting
the FCC specifi cation.
The steviol glycosides have been permitted in Japan for about 30 years and are
widely permitted elsewhere, including South America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,
Paraguay, Peru), Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore), Israel, Russia,
Australia and New Zealand. At the time of writing they have been given a positive
safety opinion by the European authorities (EFSA) and are expected to be
permitted EU-wide in due course. In France there is temporary permission to use
rebaudioside A and Switzerland has a system of product-specifi c permissions to
use the sweeteners.
3.3.2
Lo han guo, monk fruit
Structure, source
L(u)o han guo (LHG), also known as lo han kuo, angel fruit, monk fruit, arhat
fruit and rakanka, is the fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii Swingle. The plant is a
perennial vine in the cucumber and melon family, and has been cultivated
for hundreds of years in China where dried fruits are used whole, powdered or
in block forms to make beverages, seasonings and traditional medicines. There
are references to the medicinal properties of the fruit in Chinese writings circa
800 AD and sales of fruit have been documented in the US since the late 1800s
(Heimbach 2009).
The vine is not easily grown as it demands humid conditions, without frost or
extreme heat, and needs 7-8 hours sunlight per day. To add to the diffi culty of
mass cultivation, the fl owers are hand-pollinated. LHG is grown on hillsides and
90% of the world supply originates in mountainous areas of Guangxi Province in
southern China, where it is cultivated on overhead horizontal trellis-like networks
of netting strung from posts.
Traditionally, fruit were fi re-dried - a process that preserved the fruit, but also
gave extracts a smoky note. In 1995 a method was patented for extracting
relatively clean-tasting material from fresh fruit (Downton et al. 1995) and this is
the basis of today's concentrated or dried juices.
Fresh fruits are mechanically crushed or shredded, followed by extraction for
30-40 minutes at 80°C with de-ionised water. The cooled supernatant (50°C) is
clarifi ed by passage through an ultrafi ltration membrane to remove pectin and
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