Researchers are using methods derived from biotechnology to produce innovative, protein-based sweeteners. — Photo: Photography Andrii Zastrozhnov / Getty Images, via ETX Daily UP
In Germany, researchers are working on the development of a sugar substitute that is 10,000 times sweeter than sugar itself. In addition to its low calorie content, this laboratory formula has the added advantage of not causing tooth decay or raising blood sugar levels.
First there was aspartame, then stevia, as well as birch and coconut sugars. While various alternatives have succeeded artificial sweeteners in providing more natural alternatives, it could well be that the future of sugar substitutes is being shaped in laboratories, in the same way that research is being carried out to develop meat-free meat analogs. More precisely, the process involves microbial fermentation, based on the same principles used to make bread and beer.
In Germany, researchers at the Fraunhofer IME, together with partners such as metaX Institut für Diätetik GmbH and candidum GmbH, are using compounds naturally present in plants and fruit to make these sugar substitutes. In concrete terms, the scientists extract the gene that encodes the sweet-tasting protein and implant it in yeast cells. This is then placed in a bioreactor where the cells multiply to produce a sweet-tasting protein that is around 10,000 times sweeter than table sugar itself. In fact, this specific protein binds easily to the tongue receptors associated with sweetness, making it taste particularly sweet.
Sweet-tasting proteins are found, for example, in an African plant called Pentadiplandra brazzeana, a type of climbing shrub that grows in Nigeria, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The berry has a very sweet taste, even though there are no sugar molecules present, due to the presence of brazzein, whose sweetening power can be 500 to 2,000 times stronger than sugar itself.
In the case of the German NovelSweets project, researchers have succeeded in developing a substitute they call X3, one gram of which is as sweet as around 10 kg of sugar. What's interesting about this alternative is that it delivers a taste comparable to honey. It could one day be envisaged as a replacement for sugar in drinks such as sodas and colas. The substitute was developed using brazzein, which has the effect of creating a sweetener that does not cause cavities or raise blood sugar levels, says Dr. Stefan Rasche, a researcher at Fraunhofer IME in Aachen, in a news release.
If the project comes to fruition, consumers will be able to taste – and judge – for themselves the flavor of this novel sweetener, in the form of a low-protein cocoa-based beverage powder. – AFP Relaxnews
