Non-nutritive sweeteners plant based: part II

ABSTRACT

Today there is little disagreement that a real need exists for an alternative to sucrose because sugars and carbohydrates have long been recognized as causing a variety of ailments like heart diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dental caries and other diseases associated with carbohydrates metabolic disorders. There exists a genuine need among researchers for acceptable non-nutritive sweeteners to help control calories intake and alleviate diet-related health problems. In this manuscript only naturally occurring non-nutritive sweeteners such as phyllodulcin, non-glycosidic dihydrochalcones, glycyrrhizin and the sweet substances from Rebaudiana have been briefly discussed. The historical discovery of the West African plants, properties of their extracts and the isolation of sweeteners like Monellin, Thaumatins and Miraculin and the potential for commercial applications of these proteins have also been described. The comparison of their sweetness and toxicity has been made and the background of the naturally occurring non-nutritive sweeteners traced as well