Stevioside is a natural sweetener with the characteristics of low calorie and high sweetness. It comprises a diverse range of monomers that play crucial roles in numerous biological processes. Due to these attributes, it has gained widespread application in agriculture, food, and pharmaceutical industries. As a substitute for sugar, stevioside also shows good pharmacological activities on glucose metabolism, bodyweight keeping, blood pressure maintenance, and shows anti- inflammatory, anti- oxidation, antitumor, antibacterial, and immune regulation activities. This review summarized the update on the food safety, sweet structure– activity relationship, pharmacological activity of stevia glycosides recently, and discussed the limitations of its application in food and medicine.

This work aims to review and showcase the unique properties of rebaudioside M as a natural non-caloric potential sweetener in food and beverage products. To determine the potential of rebaudioside M, isolated from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, as a high potency sweetener, we examined it with the Beidler Model. This model estimated that rebaudioside M is 200–350 times more potent than sucrose. Numerous sensory evaluations of rebaudioside M9s taste attributes illustrated that this steviol glycoside possesses a clean, sweet taste with a slightly bitter or licorice aftertaste. The major reaction pathways in aqueous solutions (pH 2–8) for rebaudioside M are similar to rebaudioside A. Herein we demonstrate that rebaudioside M could be of great interest to the global food industry because it is well-suited for blending and is functional in a wide variety of food and beverage products.

This work aims to review and showcase the unique properties of rebaudioside M as a natural non-caloric potential sweetener in food and beverage products. To determine the potential of rebaudioside M, isolated from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, as a high potency sweetener, we examined it with the Beidler Model. This model estimated that rebaudioside M is 200–350 times more potent than sucrose. Numerous sensory evaluations of rebaudioside M9s taste attributes illustrated that this steviol glycoside possesses a clean, sweet taste with a slightly bitter or licorice aftertaste. The major reaction pathways in aqueous solutions (pH 2–8) for rebaudioside M are similar to rebaudioside A. Herein we demonstrate that rebaudioside M could be of great interest to the global food industry because it is well-suited for blending and is functional in a wide variety of food and beverage products.

The plant-based steviol glycosides, comprising more than 60 compounds, serve as natural sweeteners that offer safe and health conscious alternatives to sugar in beverages, baked good, and ice cream, Stevia plants, partic ularly Stevia rebaudiana, produce a diverse set of steviol glycosides concentrated in the young fully expanded leaves peaked before flowering. Within the spectrum of steviol glycosides, significant sweetness is found ir Stevioside, Rebaudioside A, Rebaudioside D, and Rebaudioside M. However, Stevioside and, to some extent Rebaudioside A may exhibit a mild bitterness aftertaste. The biosynthesis involves intricate pathways and numerous genes, with UGT76G1 playing a crucial role, However, the complete understanding of downstream biosynthesis, particularly for Rebaudioside D and Rebaudioside M, remains a challenge. Indeed, steviol glyco sides concentration and composition are inherently complex traits, In addition to these complexities, plant breeders must also consider other factors such as leaf area and yield in their studies and breeding efforts. Various breeding methods, including synthetic cultivars, transgressive segregation, polyploidy, mutagenesis, and genetic engineering are explored for eficacy, Additionally, research into microRNA and enzyme production studies, as well as understanding the interrelationship among steviol glycosides and morphological traits in stevia, holds promise for advancing SGs production.

Rebaudioside D (RD) is an alternative sweetener that has attracted attention due to its lower bitterness compared to stevioside (ST) and rebaudioside A (RA). However, its lower water solubility restricts its application in the food industry. Rebaudioside D-like compound (RDLC) was produced by combining two types of glucosyltransferases. The rebaudioside A-like compound (RALC) was produced 昀椀rst, followed by the production of RDLC. The structures of the isolated RALC and RDLC were elucidated by MS and NMR experiments. RDLC showed a 40- fold increase in water solubility compared to RD and maintained storage stability for 30 days at 25 çC. RDLC was stable at 120 çC and within a pH range of 2 to 10. In a soft drink, RDLC enhanced stability compared to ST and RA. Furthermore, RDLC revealed a more than 3.52-fold decrease in the glucose generation rate compared to enzymatically modi昀椀ed stevia, and it was 昀椀nally converted to rebaudioside E.

Stevioside is present in the plant Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (SrB). Extracts of SrB have been used for the treatment of diabetes in, for example, Brazil, although a positive effect on glucose metabolism has not been unequivocally demonstrated. We studied the acute effects of stevioside in type 2 diabetic patients. We hypothesize that supplementation with stevioside to a test meal causes a reduction in postprandial blood glucose. Twelve type 2 diabetic patients were included in an acute, paired cross-over study. A standard test meal was supplemented with either 1 g of stevioside or 1 g of maize starch (control). Blood samples were drawn at 30 minutes before and for 240 minutes after ingestion of the test meal. Compared to control, stevioside reduced the incremental area under the glucose response curve by 18% (P ! .013). The insulinogenic index (AUCi,insulin/AUCi,glucose) was increased by approximately 40% by stevioside compared to control (P < .001). Stevioside tended to decrease glucagon levels, while it did not significantly alter the area under the insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide curves. In conclusion, stevioside reduces postprandial blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetic patients, indicating beneficial effects on the glucose metabolism. Stevioside may be advantageous in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Reduction or replacement of sucrose while maintaining sweetness in foods is challenging, but today there are many sweeteners with diverse physical and caloric compositions to choose from. The choice of sweetener can be adapted to match reformulation goals whether these are to reduce calories, lower the glycaemic response, provide bulk or meet criteria as a natural ingredient. The current study sought to describe and compare the sweetness intensity dose-response, sweetness growth rate, sweetness potency, and potential for calorie reduction across 16 different sweeteners including sucrose. Sweetness growth rate was defined as the rate of change in sweetness intensity per unit of sweetener concentration. Sweetness potency was defined as the ratio of the concentration of a sweetener to that of sucrose at equivalent sweetness intensity, whereas the potential for calorie reduction is the caloric value of a sweetener compared to sucrose at matched sweetness intensities. Sweeteners were drawn from a range of nutritive saccharide (sucrose, dextrose, fructose, allulose (D-psicose), palatinose (isomaltulose), and a sucrose–allulose mixture), nutritive polyol (maltitol, erythritol, mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol), non-nutritive synthetic (aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose) and non-nutritive natural sweeteners stevia (rebaudioside A), luo han guo (mogroside V). Sweetness intensities of the 16 sweeteners were compared with a sensory panel of 40 participants (n = 40; 28 females). Participants were asked to rate perceived sweetness intensity for each sweetener series across a range of concentrations using psychophysical ratings taken on a general labelled magnitude scale (gLMS). All sweeteners exhibited sigmoidal dose-response behaviours and matched the ‘moderate’ sweetness intensity of sucrose (10% w/v). Fructose, xylitol and sucralose had peak sweetness intensities greater than sucrose at the upper concentrations tested, while acesulfame-K and stevia (rebA) were markedly lower. Independent of sweetener concentration, the nutritive sweeteners had similar sweetness growth rates to sucrose and were greater than the non-nutritive sweeteners. Non-nutritive sweeteners on the other hand had higher potencies relative to sucrose, which decreases when matching at higher sweetness intensities. With the exception of dextrose and palatinose, all sweeteners matched the sweetness intensity of sucrose across the measured range (3.8–25% w/v sucrose) with fewer calories. Overall, the sucrose–allulose mixture, maltitol and xylitol sweeteners were most similar to sucrose in terms of dose-response behaviour, growth rate and potency, and showed the most potential for sugar replacement within the range of sweetness intensities tested.

Some sweeteners show a synergistic enhancement of perceived sweetness when they are tasted as binary mixtures. In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Behrens et al. (2017) find that a surprising explanation for this classic observation may lie in their reciprocal inhibition of bitter taste receptors.