Steviol glycosides will expand their use

Recently, the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center issued an announcement to solicit opinions on 9 kinds of food additives such as steviol glycosides, calcium sulfate, acesulfame potassium, vegetable carbon black, vitamin K2, α-amylase.

Among them, steviol glycosides as food additives have been listed in the "National Standard for Food Safety Food Additive Use Standards" (gb 2760), allowed to be used in candied cold fruits, candy, pastries and other food categories, this application expands the scope of use for pickled vegetables (food category 04.02.02.03), fermented vegetable products (food category 04.02.02.06), new soy products (food category 04.04.01.05), cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products, Including cocoa butter chocolate and products (food category 05.01), biscuits (food category 07.03).

Steviol glycosides are plant-derived, do not contain calories, do not increase blood glucose concentration after human intake, suitable for diabetics, and have been approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Food Additives, which can be widely used in most food and beverages. In recent years, the use of steviol glycoside sweeteners in food and beverage products has grown rapidly globally and is expected to continue to grow in the future. Especially in the Asia-Pacific region, the development prospects of steviol glycosides are extremely promising, and it is expected that by 2020, the application market in the region is estimated to reach 208.3 million US dollars, which will become the world's largest market for the consumption of steviol glycoside applications.

Chocolate with steviol glycosides

Sweets have always been one of the areas with the greatest demand for sugar reduction, and the biggest highlight of this expansion of the use of steviol glycosides is that they can be used in chocolates and biscuits.

Although it has been criticized for its high fever and high sugar, China's chocolate market is still booming. According to data from Euromonitor's survey, in 2018, the retail sales of China's chocolate market were 21.5 billion yuan, totaling about 126,000 tons, an increase of 4.3% year-on-year; in 2019, chocolate retail sales are expected to reach 22.4 billion yuan, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate will remain at about 3.5% in the next five years.

In order to allow consumers who are afraid to eat sweets because they are afraid of fat or unhealthy, they can also eat chocolate, and domestic and foreign manufacturers have made some innovations in the formula of chocolate. For example, probiotics are added to chocolate to protect the intestines, dietary fibers such as resistant dextrins are added, and sweeteners are used instead of sucrose to develop sugar-free, low-sugar chocolate.

However, chocolate sugar reduction has always been a big difficulty, because after removing sucrose, the taste, taste and texture of chocolate will change greatly, and steviol glycosides are used with erythritol, monk fruit glycosides, and dietary fiber, which can reduce the sugar content of chocolate, but also ensure its taste and texture, and the cost is low.

New soy products with steviol glycosides

Another noteworthy is that new soy products, including soy protein and its puffed foods, soybean vegetarian meat, etc., can also use steviol glycosides.

According to the survey, plant-based has become the first of the top ten food and beverage trends in 2019. In 2018, the application of plant protein ingredients in food and beverage showed a global growth trend, and the number of new product releases containing plant protein raw materials increased by 16%. Among all the new food and beverage products tracked in 2018, the top five applications of plant protein raw materials are soy protein, soy protein isolate, pea protein, wheat protein, and soy protein hydrolysate, and the main application areas include sports nutrition, dairy products, snacks, and plant meat.

However, the disadvantage of plant protein is that it does not taste good and needs to be improved by adding sugar and salt. Steviol glycosides can not only flavor soy protein, but also be used in combination with soy protein to significantly enhance the activity and stability of soy protein.

(Yuan Jian)