Natural low-calorie sweeteners - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 55

SE (Matsumoto et al. 1990) and 378 (unknown SE) (Yoshikawa et al. 2005).
However, both these values were for pure mogroside V and were derived using
questionable sensory panel techniques.
There is evidence that LHG is somewhat less sweet in acid solution (pH 3) than
neutral (Heimbach 2009).

Applications
LHG can be used as the sole sweetener in food systems that deliver some initial
fl avour or texture, such as chocolate milk, as that helps mask the slow sweetness
onset. Likewise, residual or long-lasting fl avour, as in coffee, minimises the sweet
linger of LHG. In similar vein, blends of LHG with rebaudioside A (1:1 weight
basis) are said to be successful in that the steviol glycoside's faster onset remedies
the slower build of LHG's sweetness, while the sweet linger of the latter is less
apparent yet covers any non-sweet after-tastes from rebaudioside A.
In common with most natural HPS, LHG performs well with caloric sweeteners
and can be used to reduce the amount of sugar in beverages by around 50%.
A wide range of non-beverage applications has also been suggested. These
include granola bars, breakfast cereals, baked goods, yogurt, ice cream and
as a table-top sweetener. In Japan, lo han fruit ('Rakanka') is an approved food
found in beverages, foods, confectionery, oral care and over-the-counter (OTC)
pharmaceutical products.

Regulatory status
There is a long history of traditional use in China and LHG extract is approved as
a food additive in China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. It is in
common use in South Korea and Malaysia. It is approved as a dietary supplement
in Australia and New Zealand.
In the US, LHG juice or dried concentrate has been GRAS since early 2010
and is generally labelled as lo han guo fruit concentrate or monk fruit concentrate.
LHG is not a permitted sweetener in the EU, although it may be used as a
natural fl avour preparation (albeit at concentrations where it does not function as
a sweetener). It is likely that manufacturers will seek EU approval for LHG juice
concentrate as a novel food and for the powder as a food additive in the next
few years.

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3.3.3 Glycyrrhizin

Structure, source
Glycyrrhizin is a triterpene glycoside, also known as glycyrrhizic acid (Fig. 3.8).
It is a tribasic saponin composed of a triterpenoid aglycone, glycyrrhetic acid
joined to a disaccharide of glucuronic acid. Glycyrrhizin is extracted from the
roots of the liquorice plant, Glycyrrhiza glabra L. where it occurs naturally at
levels of 2-15% of the dry matter (Hartung 1979) as a mixture of potassium and
calcium salts. It is often converted to the ammonium form on extraction but is also
sold as a liquid, paste ('block'), or spray-dried powder extract.