New plant-derived sweetener launched by Neptune Bio-Innovations in Australia
Food ingredient company Neptune Bio-Innovations has launched a new plant-derived sweetener, called ‘Sweetin’, containing stevia and thaumatin.
Thaumatin is a sweet-tasting protein extracted from the Katemfe fruit, Thaumatococcus daniellii, a bushy plant that grows in West Africa. Neptune Bio-Innovations said it elicits a very sweet taste that is rated 2,000 to 10,000 times sweeter than sucrose. According to Neptune Bio-Innovations, 1 kilogram of thaumatin “has the sweetening strength of 2 to 10 metric tonnes of sucrose, but without the same amount of calories”.
With the changing preference of consumers towards low-calorie, Neptune Bio-Innovations said food manufacturers were finding more novel and innovative sugar substitutes to replace white sugar “without sacrificing the taste”.
Neptune Bio-Innovations said the combination of stevia, thaumatin and fibre in ‘Sweetin’ had resulted in a “cleaner, sweeter taste with no aftertaste or lingering sweetness”. The Company said the product “enhances flavours and acts as a taste modifier”.
‘Sweetin’ can be used the manufacture of beverages, confectionery, frozen desserts, sauces and gravies, as well as pharmaceuticals and vitamin supplements. ‘Sweetin’ is also available in a liquid version called ‘Sweetose’.
The product has been launched in Australia, but the Company told Australian Food News it also has distribution channels in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
