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Sweetness Concentration‐Response Behavior of Rebiana at Room and Refrigerator Temperatures
Author(s) -
Fry John C.,
Yurttas Nese,
Biermann Kari L.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02414.x
Subject(s) - sweetness , stevia rebaudiana , rebaudioside a , sucrose , chemistry , food science , sugar , refrigerator car , taste , ingredient , water activity , potency , stevioside , biochemistry , thermodynamics , water content , in vitro , medicine , physics , alternative medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , engineering
Rebiana is a zero‐calorie, natural, high‐potency sweetener derived from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni and comprising almost pure rebaudioside A. Reliable information on its sweetness concentration‐response (C‐R) behavior is fundamental to rebiana's use as an ingredient. The response curve of rebiana in room‐temperature (21 °C) and refrigerated (5 °C) water was determined using 2‐alternative forced choice discrimination tests with a minimum of 70 tasters. From a series of panels the proportion of tasters finding different sucrose concentrations sweeter than a fixed concentration of rebiana was plotted against sucrose concentration. The resultant sigmoid curves were linearized by transforming the ordinate axis to a probability scale. This aided experimental design and determination of isosweet concentrations. The latter were deemed to be the sucrose concentration at which 50% of tasters found it to be the sweeter of the pair. Isosweet concentrations of sucrose for seven rebiana concentrations up to 600 mg/L were used to construct a C‐R curve for each temperature. Equations were derived for the resultant hyperbolic curves. Rebiana is significantly more potent in cold water. Practical Application: Rebiana is a new, zero‐calorie, natural, high‐potency sweetener derived from the Stevia plant. We have measured the sweetness of rebiana over a range of concentrations at room and refrigerator temperatures. This information will help developers of low‐calorie products get the right sweetness level when replacing sugar with rebiana.