Steviol glycosides (commonly known as stevioside, stevioside) are a new type of natural sweetener extracted from the Asteraceae herb Stevia (or stevia leaf), and South America has used stevia as a medicinal herb and sugar substitute. Hundreds of years of history. According to data from the international sweetener industry, steviol glycosides have been widely used in the production of food, beverages and seasonings in Asia, North America, South America and the European Union.
Steviol glycosides are extracted by immersing the dry leaves of stevia in water, filtering the liquid to separate the leaves and stems, and further purifying them with water or food-grade alcohol-a completely traditional plant extraction method. Thus, a natural and extremely sweet sweetener-stevioside that can be consumed daily without affecting blood sugar levels is obtained.
It is easily soluble in water and ethanol, and when mixed with sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, etc., not only the sweetness of steviol glycosides is more pure, but also the sweetness can have a synergistic effect. Steviol glycosides are heat-resistant and light-resistant, very stable in the pH range of 3-10, and are easy to store. The stability of the solution is good, and it is still very stable under the heat treatment in the pH range of general beverages and foods. Steviol glycosides do not change much when stored in organic acid solutions containing sucrose for half a year; they do not decompose in acid-base media to prevent fermentation, discoloration and precipitation.
Steviol glycosides have pure sweetness, cool and long, taste similar to white sugar, and the sweetness is about 150 to 300 times that of sucrose. Among them, the purified rebaudioside A sugar is about 450 times sweeter than sucrose and has a better taste. The dissolution temperature of steviol glycosides has a great relationship with the sweetness and taste. Generally, the sweetness is high when dissolved at low temperature; the taste is good after being dissolved at high temperature, but the sweetness is low. When it is used with citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, amino acids, etc., it has a killing effect on the aftertaste of steviol glycosides. Therefore, mixed use with the above substances can have a corrective effect and improve the sweetness quality of steviol glycosides.