Technology Scan-Adapt-Diffuse Yields Opportunities from Sugar Replacement – 2 of 3

(Start of Part 2 of 3)

Sugar replacement is an opportunity created by lifestyle, health and demographic changes. Yet to gain the benefit from this opportunity is not as easy as taking sugar out and replacing it with any sweetener. A lot of science (and art, too) in adaptive research is needed to Scan-Adapt-and-Diffuse (from Post 68) the right and cost-effective replacement for a specific application to obtain the right product that consumers would pay to have.

Sugar is a cheap and versatile ingredient. For sweetness, sugar has at least eight important sensory dimensions:

• On onset, sweetness from sugar starts sharply in less than one second after it touches the tongue;
• On length, the sensation of sweetness lasts more than 60 seconds;
• Its body is full; and
• Other defining sensory (organoleptic) notes are: bitter, metallic, caramelized, molasses and sweet aftertaste.

On top of the sensation of sweetness and its energy oomph, sugar also offers other specific functional benefits to different products:

• For bread, it offers that delightful brown color from Malliard reaction between sugars and proteins. It also offers softness and moistness. Its glucose fraction also provide starting food for yeast;
• For cakes, sugar helps in nucleating the air cells upon mixing that, with chemical leavening, creates volume and fluffy texture;
• For pastries, inverted sugar results in softness in fillings;
• For beverages, it provides body often synergistically with texturants;
• For dehydrated products, it acts as a preservative by binding free water away from yeasts, molds and bacteria;
• For confectionery and chewing gums, it imparts the desired hardness or chewiness in combination with glucose;
• For ice cream, sugar depresses the freezing point and keeps ice cream from the freezer eatable; and
• With salt and vinegar, in balance, it provides that unique piquant taste in savory applications.

With its double role as sweetener and functional ingredient, replacing sugar becomes a challenging task for adaptive research. One sees unpalatably pale loaves of “no sugar added” bread on store shelves because the lactose (insoluble, sugar) used to bulk up the high intensity sweetener (HIS) does not undergo browning Malliard reaction. And while the claim of sugar-free is made for bread, the glucose fraction in starch broken up by ptyalin in our saliva is the same glucose (with fructose) in the disaccharide sucrose (sugar). The claim of “No Calorie” made by Coke Zero and Pepsi Max is technically accurate than no sugar added.

The HIS to replace sugar also needs to be chosen correctly on sweetness and function.

On the sensation of sweetness, there is no direct replacement to the fast onset and length of sweetness from sugar at the same price. Sucralose, being made from sugar but with an extra chloride, is claimed to have the closest organoleptic attributes. A new herb-sourced sweetener, stevia, has been approved as GRAS (generally accepted as safe) in the U.S. but has been in use in Japan and other countries in Asia for some time. Coke is starting the switch to stevia from accredited suppliers this year.

On functional qualities, Aspartame, which is not heat stable, had too short a shelf life for the first diet soda introduced in the Philippines. Distribution could only be done feasibly around Metro Manila. The product only took off when the more expensive, but more heat-stable acesulfame-K was blended with aspartame. This lengthened shelf-life in the distribution pipeline to three months. Sucralose for baking needs to have some sugar to initiate yeast activity and the right bulking agent to support the volume role of sugar in bread. For chewing gum, erythritol, a polyol, provides the cooling effect with the HIS to replace peppermint partially.

HIS are typically priced based on the multiple of dextrose equivalent (D.E.) to sugar. The blend with bulk carriers like polyols are often more expensive than sugar and are justified by healt benefits like low glycemic index (for diabetics) or low calories against obesity.

Rather than being just tasting sweet, other ingredients like vanillin, maltitol and glycyrrhizic acid act on the receptors to enhance the sensation of sweetness. Used rightly, they can be use to reduce the use of sugar in a recipe.

After scanning the world for the right replacement from new basic research, adaptive research is done to fit the sugar replacement blend with the right sweetness profile and function. Diffusion in the Philippines is often hindered by this higher cost.

I have done adaptive experiments in sugar replacement for baking applications. The experience shows the substantial challenge of SAnD, given target cost constraints, in the Philippines even with obvious opportunities and consumer benefits.

Our next of example, In part 3, of dehydrated gabi to bring laing at all seasons to Filipinos all over the world also highlights similar significnt challenges.

(Click here for Part 3 of 3 and here for Part 1 of 3.)