FOOD SCIENCE AND PROCESSING 3 (2+1)

Lesson 30 : Processing and Preparation of Sugar and Related Products

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are used in food industry as small concentration of these substances is required to sweeten the product.

An ideal sweetener is as sweet as or sweeter than sucrose, has a pleasant taste with no after taste, is colourless, odourless, readily soluble, stable, functional and economically feasible. It also is non-toxic, does not promote dental cavities and is either metabolised normally or excreted from the body unchanged without contributing to any metabolic abnormalities. Ideal is multiple sweetener approach. When multiple sweeteners are used together they have a synergistic effect. They reduce the cost and improve the product taste and stability, since the combination often overcomes the limitations of the individual sweeteners.

Table 9.4 : Relative sweetness of various sweeteners.