Sweeteners, whether classified as natural or artificial, have long been prized for their mouth-pleasing ‘sugar’ taste, but they have many other functions in cooking and baking.
Sweeteners, whether classified as natural or artificial, have long been prized for their mouth-pleasing ‘sugar’ taste, but they have many other functions in cooking and baking.
Natural sweeteners exist in many forms, and can be found widely in nature, particularly in fruit products. Purified natural sweeteners are usually derived from sugar cane, sugar beet or corn syrup.
Artificial sweeteners provide a ‘sugar’ taste and have been produced as low-calorie sugar substitutes that may assist in weight management, prevention of dental decay and control of blood glucose for diabetics.
Natural Sweeteners
The simplest forms of natural sweetener are the monosaccharides, usually consisting of five carbon rings (such as fructose) or a six-carbon ring (such as glucose).
Disaccharides, like sucrose, consist of two monosaccharides, for example, fructose and glucose.
Sweeteners derived from corn syrup are extracted from long starch molecules. Powdered glucose is manufactured by the complete hydrolysis of the linkages between the carbon rings. When the degree of hydrolysis is not as complete, a Maltodextrin is produced.
The simplest forms of natural sweetener are the monosaccharides, usually consisting of five carbon rings (such as fructose) or a six-carbon ring (such as glucose).
ADM Cornsweet® Crystalline Fructose
Sweeteners derived from corn syrup are extracted by acid hydrolysis (breakdown) of the linkages between the carbon rings of the long starch molecules.
Crystalline Fructose is referred to as the sweetest of all nutritive sugars; it provides an excellent sweetness and flavour profile with no aftertaste.
The intense sweetness of ADM Cornsweet® Crystalline Fructose allows food technologists to formulate products with reduced sweetness, particularly when used in combination with other sweeteners such as sucrose.
Trials in the Hawkins Watts New Zealand test kitchen have found that a combination of fructose and sucrose in fruit preparations give better flavour enhancement, especially with berry products. We have also found that Cornsweet® Crystalline Fructose, when used at around 1%, can reduce the aftertaste associated with artificial sweeteners.
Cornsweet ® Crystalline Fructose has been found to have a very low glycaemic index and is very useful in products designed for consumers who need to control their blood sugar.
Cornsweet® Crystalline Fructose can also be used in endurance sports beverages where the high level of sweetness, combined with low glycaemic index, allows for the development of appealing products that deliver the required nutrients and minerals.
Cornsweet ® Crystalline Fructose
Clintose® Maltodextrins are extremely good bulking agents, often used in instant beverages, sports drinks, dairy products and a host of other applications.
Sweeteners derived from corn syrup are extracted by acid hydrolysis (breakdown) of the linkages between the carbon rings of the long starch molecules. When hydrolysis is only partial, a Maltodextrin is produced.
Depending on the degree of hydrolysis, ADM Clintose® Maltodextrins have a bland to slightly sweet flavour. They are produced using new ion exchange technology that removes trace elements and impurities from the Maltodextrin. As a result, Clintose® Maltodextrins have excellent clarity, stability and solubility.
HWG offers the full range of ADM Clintose® Maltodextrins, and have found the Clintose CR10 product to be good for a range of applications.
Clintose® Maltodextrins
Herbasweet and Herbarom are natural sweeteners made from de-juiced apples; they have the characteristic sugar profile found in apples.
Herbasweet contains minimal sucrose and has a very high level of fructose and Sorbitol, which are generally recognised as diabetic sweeteners. With increased focus on Glycemic Index, these products can be used to reduce the GI of a final food product. They also have the advantage of being made from apples, low acidity and good colour, with a labelfriendly listing.
Herbarom has a similar sugar profile to Herbasweet with the added natural fruit acids, minerals and secondary plant substances of apples, such as polyphenols.
ADM Honi-Bake Dry Honey Powder is available in several powdered forms, ranging from a pure honey powder to a freeflowing honey and Maltodextrin combination. Honi-Bake® dry honey powder can be used in breads, cookies, cakes, snack foods, health foods, sauces, dressings and dry mix systems, or wherever the natural flavor of honey is desired. HWG holds a NZ Ministry of Agriculture import permit for these products and is able to import the ADM honey powder range
ADM Dri-Mol® Molasses Powder
Molasses has traditionally been used for its unique colour and flavour. The availability of the Dri-Mol® range makes for easier handling of molasses, especially in powder mixes.
ADM Sweet’n’Neat Nut and Snack coatings
The Sweet’n’Neat range of coating blends contains a combination of honey, sugar, salt and hydrocolloids for coating dry-roasted nuts and seeds
Produces rich, golden-brown products that are deliciously sweet and salty, with a touch of honey flavor.
ADM range of dry sweeteners (ADM)
Artificial sweeteners.
Acesulfame K
Acesulfame potassium is also known as Acesulfame K or Ace K. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number (additive code) E950. It was discovered accidentally in 1967 by German chemist, Karl Claus at Hoechst AG.
Acesulfame K is 180-200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), as sweet as aspartame, about half as sweet as saccharin, and has one-quarter the sweetness of sucralose. Like saccharin, it has a slightly bitter aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Acesulfame K is often blended with aspartame or other sweeteners. These blends are reputed to give a more sugar-like taste where each sweetener masks the other’s aftertaste, and to exhibit a synergistic effect wherein the blend is sweeter than its components.
Acesulfame K is stable under heat, even under moderately acidic or basic conditions, allowing it to be used in baking, or in products that require a long shelf life. It is commonly used in products such as diet beverages and desserts.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener known under the E Number (additive code) E955.
Sucralose is approximately 600 times sweeter than sucrose, four times sweeter than aspartame, and twice as sweet as saccharin.
Sucralose is generally more stable than aspartame in most food products.
Due to its high sweetness intensity, sucralose is often used in conjunction with other ingredients such as bulking agents.
Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. The plant originates from Paraguay and is currently mostly cultivated in South America and Asia.
As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
The Stevia plant leaf contains a number of sweet compounds called steviol glycosides, including Rebaudioside A (Reb A), the sweetest and best tasting compound. Reb A also has exceptional technical properties, such as high stability (including in low pH applications), and excellent tolerance to heat.
With its steviol glycoside extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.
In 2008, the FDA approved Rebaudioside A extract as a food additive, and Stevia glycosides were given the ‘all clear’ in New Zealand and Australia.
Hawkins Watts represents Daepyung in both New Zealand and Australia. Rebaten 97% is a natural sweetener extracted from Stevia rebaudiana, purified to 97% Rebaudioside A. We have found that products such as Rebaten 60%, work particularly well in certain applications, and offer a cost-in-use benefit as well.