History And Composition Of The Sweetener Research Paper Sample

iLab

ILAB

Stevia, whose scientific name is Stevia rebaudiana, is a native of Paraguay with highly sweet leaves. Its discovery is attributed to Dr. Moises S. Bertoni, an Italian-Swiss botanist, over a hundred years ago. Since then it has become a vital economic plant owing to its commercial use in sweetening and flavoring of many food products (Kinghorn, 2002)
The sweetness of Stevia is derived from Stevioside and ent-kaurene diterpene diglycoside, the major chemical constituents. The two compounds were first isolated in their impure forms at the start of 20th century. In the1970s, a third sweetening constituent called rebaudioside A was isolated from Stevia leaves by Prof. Osamu Tanaka from Japan. Other less abundant sweet-tasting compounds isolated later include steviolbioside, dulcoside B-E, and rebaudioside A (Kinghorn, 2002)

Safety of Stevia

Studies have found S. rebaudiana to be safe for human consumption (Gasmalla, Yang, Hua, 2014). Most studies have reported no significant correlation between stevia and blood pressure. For instance, Maki et al. (2008) reported that consumption of 1,000 mg/day rebaudioside A did not have any significant effects on systolic, diastolic, arterial, and ambulatory blood pressure after resting in subjects with lower than normal and normal blood pressure as compared to placebo. In another study, it was also found to have no effects on glucose homeostasis in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Most studies have also been reported to have found no effects of steviol and stevioside on chromosomal and gene mutations. In addition, no carcinogenic and reproductive effects have been reported on rat studies.

Stevia and obesity

Stevia, a non-caloric natural sweetener, doesn’t contribute to obesity and thus surge in the use of stevioside and rebaudioside A is expected to substitute synthetic sweeteners (Gasmalla, Yang, Hua, 2014). In another study, Anton et al. (2010) reported a significant reduction in postprandial glucose levels after intake of Stevia as compared to sucrose. Furthermore, stevia significantly reduced postprandial insulin levels when compared to aspartame and sucrose. In the same study, participants who consumed stevia consumed less food all over the day hence reducing daily calories intake and consequently reducing the risks of diabetes.

References

Anton, S. D., Han, H., Coulon, S., Cefalu, W. T., Geiselman, P., & Williamson, D. (2010). Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, safety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels. American journal of clinical nutrition, 55(1), p. 37-43. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.03.009
Gasmalla, M. A., Yang, R., Hua, S. (2014). Stevia rebaudiana bertoni: an alternative sugar replacer and its application in food industry. Food Engineering Reviews, 6(4), 150-162. doi 10.1007/s12393-014-9080-0
Kinghorn, A. D. (Eds.). (2002) Stevia: The genus Stevia. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis
Maki, K. C., Curry, L. L., Carakostas, M. C., Tarka, S. M., Reeves, M. S., Farmer, M. V., . . . Bisognano, J. D. (2014). The hemodynamic effects of rebaudioside A in healthy adults with normal and low-normal blood pressure. Food and chemical toxicology, 46(7), 40-46. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2008.04.040