Natural sweetener which have low calorific value, can be used in diabetic and obese patient. some of them are taste modifying agents, which are not sweet in taste but modify the taste of sour food, can be used as natural sweetener instead of artificial sweetening agents which are high in calorie and can be harmful to our body.

1. SWEETENERS

2. • Sugar is a sweetener that provides 4 calories per gram.
• It is acknowledged that excess sugar ingestion amounts to
increased energy intake which, in turn, can lead to weight gain
and chronic diseases associated with obesity and dental caries.
• Therefore, there is need for sugar substitutes, which can help
reduce caloric intake, particularly in overweight individuals.
• The demand for new alternative “low calorie” sweeteners for
dietetic has increased worldwide.
• Many synthetic sweeteners, which are widely used are proved
to be carcinogenic (Aspartame) and are non-nutritive.
• Hence demand greatly increased for natural sweetening agents,
especially for non-sacchariferous sweetening agents, because
they are highly potent, useful, safe and low-calorie sugar
alternatives.

3. What should be the Ideal properties
of sweetening agents ???

4. • Ideal properties of sweetening agents
• Sweetening agents should have the following ideal properties
 They are required to be effective when used in small
concentration.
 They must be stable at a wide range of temperature to which the
formulations are likely to be exposed.
 Prolonged use of these agents containing preparations should not
produce any carcinogenic effects
 They should have very low or non-calorific value.
 They should be compatible with other ingredients in formulations.
 They should not show batch to batch variations.
 They should be readily available and inexpensive.

5. • Uses of Natural Sweetening agents
• Pharmaceutical Uses
 In pharmaceutical industries these are used in
liquid, oral preparations, lozenges, pills and
tablets.
 In liquid orals sugar is used to prepare syrup base,
to maintain the consistency and viscosity of the
preparation and to mask the bitter taste of the
drug.
 Sugar is also employed in the coating of pills and
tablets
 Honey plays an important role in Ayurvedic system
of medicine. It is used as an important vehicle for

7. • Non-saccharide sweetening agents
• Non saccahride sweetening agents are those, which
contain substances other than saccharides as sweet
principles. They contain Terpenoids, proteins,
dihydrochalcones, steroidal saponins, etc. as sweet
principles.
• The non-saccharide sweeteners possess some
advantages over saccharide sweeteners.
 Non-carcinogenic.
 Potent sweeteners (8000 times sweeter than
sucrose).

8. TERPENOIDS

9. • Stevioside and Rebaudioside
• Stevioside and Rebaudioside-A do not increase the blood sugar levels,
so they can be used by diabetics without adverse glycemic responses.
• It is extracted from Stevia rebaudiana, family Compositae.
• Stevioside can be isolated from the leaves by extraction with water or water-
ethyl alcohol mixture.
• Stevioside is sparingly soluble in water.
• Rebaudioside A is normally purified by crystallization from alcoholic
solution
• Stevioside is 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose.
• The extract provides a sweet taste that lasts for a long time in the mouth
but has a pronounced aftertaste and bitterness, limiting its use at
high concentrations.
• Stevioside is poorly soluble in water but highly soluble in alcohol and is
relatively stable over a wide range of pH values, even at the acid pH
of certain drinks.

10. • Glycyrrhizin
• Glycyrrhizin is a mixed calcium and potassium salt of gylcyrrhizic acid found
in liquorice root, Glycyrrhiza glabra, family Leguminosae.
• Glycyrrhizic acid is triterpene glycoside and after hydrolysis it gives
glycyrrhetic acid as aglycone.
• Glycyrrhizin is about 50-100 times sweeter than sucrose whereas its salt
ammonium glycyrrhizinate is about 50 times sweeter as compared to
sugar.
• Glycyrrhizin has lingering licorice-like aftertaste and therefore considered
as a flavouring agent rather than sweeteners.
• Glycyrrhizin enhances food flavors, masks bitter flavors, and
increases the sweetness. It has the potential for providing functional
characteristics, including foaming, viscosity control, gel formation,
and possibly antioxidant characteristics.
• It also has anti-ulcer and anti-inflammatory activity.
• It is also used in soft drinks, tobacco products and oral hygiene products.

11. DIHYDRO ISOCOUMARINS

12. • Phyllodulcin
• Phyllodulcin is obtained from leaves of Hydrangea macrophylla
(Saxifragaceae) commonly known as amacha.
• This plant is Indigenous to Japan, China and is found in North and south
America, and temperate hills of India particularly Assam and in
Himalayas.
• The sweet principle is 400-800 times sweeter than sucrose.
• Hydrangeic acid from the leaves is being investigated as a possible anti-
diabetic drug as it significantly lowers blood glucose, triglyceride, and
free fatty acid levels.
• Purified phyllodulcin has no mutagenicity.
• One drawback for its use as a sweetener is its very low solubility in
water.

13. PROTEIN SWEETENERS

14. • Thaumatin
• Thaumatin I (generally named thaumatin) is the only sweet protein that
has been approved by both the FDA and the European Commission to
be used as sweetener in food.
• Thaumatin is a group of intensely sweet basic proteins isolated from the
fruit of Thaumatococcus danielli (West African fruit).
• It consists essentially of the proteins Thaumatin I and Thaumatin II.
• It is a taste-modifying protein that functions as natural sweetener or
flavor enhancer.
• It is stable in aqueous solutions between pH 2.0 at room temperature.
• All the forms of a Thaumatin are intensely sweet, and have 207 amino
acids.
• The two predominant forms, Thaumatin I and II differ by 5 amino acids.
• It has a very sweet taste that is rated to be 3000 to 8000 times sweeter
than sucrose.

15. • Their solubility is maximal at pH 2.7-3.
• The sweetening power does not disappear on heating.
• The sweetness of Thaumatin disappeared on heating at pH above 7
for 15 min, but the sweetness remained even after heating at 80°C
for 4 hr at pH 2.
• This indicated that the protein Thaumatin is more thermoresistant
under acid conditions than under neutral or alkaline conditions.
• Used at 20-400 ppm in pills and tablets, its long-lasting effect covers
strongly bitter aftertastes and leaves a pleasant feeling in the
mouth.

16. • Monellin
• Monellin is present in red berries of West African plant
Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii.
• Monellin is about 3000 times sweeter than sucrose.
• Unlike the single chain thaumatin, monellin consists of two
polypeptides of 45 and 50 amino acids.
• Monellin has been shown to lose its sweetness when heated
above 50°C under acidic pH .

17. • Miraculin (taste- modifying protein)
• Miraculin has the unusual property of being able to modify a sour taste
into a sweet taste.
• Miraculin is a basic glycoprotein that was extracted from the miracle fruit
plant, a shrub that is native to West Africa Richadella dulcifica.
• Miraculin itself is not sweet, but the human tongue, once exposed to
miraculin, perceives ordinarily sour foods, such as citrus, as sweet for up
to 2 h afterward.
• This small red berry has been used in West Africa to improve the taste of
acidic foods.
• Since the miracle fruit itself has no distinct taste, this taste-modifying
function of the fruit had been regarded as a miracle.
• The active substance, isolated from plant was named miraculin after the
miracle fruit.
• Miraculin was first sequenced in 1989 and was found to be a glycoprotein
consisting of 191 amino acids and some carbohydrate chains.

18. • Curculin
• Curculin isolated from fruits of Curculigo latifolia, a plant grown
in Malaysia, has an intriguing property of modifying sour taste
into sweet taste.
• Curculin was reported to be a homodimer of two proteins
connected through two disulfide bridges.
• In addition to this taste modifying activity, Curculin itself elicits a
sweet taste.
• It is a unique sweet protein that has both sweet-tasting and taste-
modifying activities.

19. DIHYDROCHALCONES

20. • Neohesperidin Dihydrochalcone
• Neohesperidin is obtained from the peels of the fruits
of plant Citrus aurantium (Rutaceae), commonly
known as Seville orange.
• The flavonoid compound Neohesperidin is itself bitter
but dilute alkali extract gives a sweet compound
called Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone.
• Like glycyrrhizin, Neohesperidin DC exhibits a
long-lasting sweetness at high concentrations,
associated with a licorice-like aftertaste.
• It is about 1000 times sweeter than sucrose.
• It is approved in Belgium and USA for use as a sugar
substitute in beverages and chewing gum.

21. • Glycyphyllin
• The sweet principle Glycyphyllin is present in almost all parts of
the plant Smilax glycyphylla (sweet sarsaparilla) (Liliaceae).
• It is Indigenous to India and found in Himalayas.
• It is mainly propagated through Rhizomes and tuberous roots.
• The sweet principle is a dihydrochalcone glucoside, 100-200
times sweeter than sucrose.
• The extract of almost all parts of plants provide sweetening
agent.

22. • Trilobatin
• Trilobatin is obtained from the plants
Symplocos paniculata (Simplocaceae)
commonly known as sweet leaf, sapphire
berry.
• This plant is found in India and is being
cultivated on large scale.
• It is 400-1000 times sweeter than sucrose.