What’s the ingredient’s source, its extraction process, its sweetness relative to sugar, and its approved applications in foods?
Reb A is derived from Stevia leaf, (Plant: Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni) Family: Compositae (Asteracease).
Reb A is one of ten steviol glycosides which are extracted from dry leaves by steeping in warm water and then purified by crystallization to get > 97% pure Reb A product.
Sweetness: 200-400 times sweeter than sugar.
Stevia is approved as a sweetener for all major food and beverage categories which includes table top sweetener – for tea, coffee, etc.,Beverages: carbonated soft drinks, still beverages, powdered soft drinks, Dairy: ice creams, yogurts, sherbets, Baked goods: cakes, biscuits, cereals, bars, Jams, sauces, pickles, puddings, desserts, chewing gum, confections, seafood, vegetables, weight management and diabetic diets.
Stevia-based sweeteners have been evolving — and improving — over the years. What were earlier generations' drawbacks, and why is today’s stevia better?
Reb A was not previously approved for use due to two factors historically associated with conventional stevia extract.
First, there was an issue with the taste profile of stevia — the crude extract that was used contains a mixture of approximately 10 different glycosides not all of which taste good.
Second, because the extract contains a mixture of different molecules, it was impossible to give a clear specification of the product. The ratio of molecules in the extract would vary substantially, depending on the climate and weather conditions where the stevia was grown. This variation caused difficulties for food and beverage manufacturers, and importantly, made it difficult to conduct clinical trials to assess the product safety.
By improving the extraction and purification process, today stevia sweetener can be made more consistently, which helps in making better tasting food and beverage products.
Sugar has a very distinct sweetness profile, with a unique peak, tail and top notes. What is stevia’s sweetness profile and how does it compare to sugar’s, particularly in beverages?
The sweetness profile of Reb A has slightly delayed onset of sweetness like many other high intensity sweeteners. It also shows sweetness lingering at high concentration, thus the tail is more extended than sugar, but much shorter than sucralose, as an example.
Does it work best as a complete sugar replacement, or as a sugar reducer? Does it “synergize” with other alternative sweeteners?
Works best as a sugar (calorie) reducer. It shows excellent synergy with sugar, fructose, etc.
Aside from flavor, does Reb A offer any physical properties in applications, such as structural support, tac/thickening, color?
Since Reb A molecular size is small (<900) and the usage level in any application is very small, the structural and color attributes in any application are insignificant.
How does stevia influence other flavours (as opposed to sweetness) in a beverage? For example, might it affect the sweet-acid balance in a cola? Might it enhance or diminish cocoa notes in chocolate milk? Does it mask or bind flavours? Does it need any flavour masking of its own?
Sweet-acid balance is a key factor in deriving a targeted flavor note. The other factor is loss of bulk characteristics when sugar is replaced with any high intensity sweetener like Reb A. Since it impacts the osmolality and viscosity, it can affect the flavor profile.
