In their search for a better sweetener, researchers in the ACS Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have now reported a low-calorie blend that tastes as sweet as table sugar and in laboratory experiments. experiments, providing food for the “good” gut bacteria.
Artificial sweeteners have exploded in popularity because they allow people to consume sweets without calories. However, while they are considered safe for humans, animal and human studies suggest that some of them may stimulate appetite, leading to increased food consumption and weight gain, as well as other negative health outcomes.
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Low-calorie sweetener developed for gut health
So researchers turned to studying low-calorie or extremely sweet substances from natural sources for possible alternatives. For example, galactooligosaccharides – found in Mammal milk – are low-calorie sugars with prebiotic activity that can be a source of energy for beneficial gut bacteria, but they are not sweet enough to replace table sugar.
In addition, extracts from beautiful fruit(Siraitia grosvenorii or Monkfruit) contains mogrosides – compounds that are 200 to 300 times sweeter than table sugar. But these extracts sometimes have an unpleasant taste, which can be removed by enzymes.
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So, F. Javier Moreno and colleagues wanted to take advantage of the best aspects of both natural substances, using enzymes to transform mogrosides while also producing galactooligosaccharides for an entirely new sweetener with high content. low calories.
The researchers started with lactose and mogroside V (the main mogroside in luohan guo berries). When they added the enzyme β-galactosidase, the researchers obtained a mixture containing mostly galactooligosaccharides and small amounts of denatured mogroside.
A trained sensory panel reported that the new combination had a sweetness similar to that of sucrose (table sugar), suggesting it may be acceptable to consumers. In test-tube experiments, the new sweetener increased levels of many beneficial bacteria in the human gut, including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species.
In addition, an increase in metabolites produced by bacteria, such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, suggests that the mixture may have a prebiotic effect on the gut microbiota. The researchers say that the new sweetener holds promise in these initial analyzes and that their next step is to better study its impact on human gut health.
Source: Eurekalert
