This is what you need to know about natural sweeteners

 

Since childhood, most people show a clear preference for sweet flavors, and rejection or less preference for bitter flavors. This happens because the sweet sensation is perceived thanks to the interaction of certain substances with the taste buds that are located on the tip of the tongue.

Substances capable of causing a sweet sensation can be of a very varied chemical structure: sugars, polyalcohols, amino acids, peptides, or proteins, to name a few, unlike other flavors, such as the acid flavor that is always produced by reactions that release hydrogen ions. or the salty taste that is produced by ionic salt compounds.

Sweeteners are known as all substances capable of sweetening food. All-natural or synthetic substances with a sweet taste are classified under this name. The best known is sucrose; however, it is being replaced by other sweeteners with increasing frequency. Table sugar or sucrose, which can be obtained from beets or sugar cane, is a refined product, which means that it does not provide other nutrients. These are empty calories; specifically 4 kilocalories per gram.

In contrast, natural sweeteners are substances that, in addition to their sweetening power, can be used in processes such as food preservation, fermentation in beer and winemaking, baking, where they contribute to texture, softening and yeast, and the browning and caramelization of foods during what is known as the Maillard reaction.

Natural sweeteners can be both nutritious and health-promoting and are therefore popular as both a food and a flavoring. Sweetness balances bitterness, acidity, and saltiness, and most humans are driven by sweet flavors.

Sugars are naturally present in many plant foods. The most common sweeteners are obtained by processing plants such as agaves, maples, sugar cane, coconut palms, sugar beets, and corn to extract and condense their sugars. In the case of honey, bees do the work of extracting and processing nectar from flowers without the need for human intervention.

Clean-label ingredients that do not compromise the taste or function of the final product are popular with consumers, and food and beverage products that include them are highly preferred.

Over the years, consumer concern about high levels of sugar in the products they routinely consume has led to increased interest in natural sweeteners that do not compromise taste.

Honey sugar, for example, is the most attractive and popular natural sweetener in North America, simply because it is natural, and because the increasingly educated population perceives that naturally occurring sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and plants are less harmful, or healthier.

Thus, more and more people prefer sugars extracted from such sources over low-calorie processed sweeteners. However, these products are also widely accepted, mainly because they are easily accessible since there is a wide variety of sweeteners and because it is easy to include them in the daily diet according to the preference and performance demands of each person.

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