A sugar substitute in citrus — how sweet is that?

University of Florida (UF) researchers have discovered natural sweeteners in citrus, providing opportunities for a natural sugar substitute in the food and beverage industry.

Replacing and reducing sugar in processed foods is a long-term goal of both the healthcare system and food and beverage industry. Consumers, for example, want a sweet-tasting orange juice but they’re also concerned about sugar consumption.

Sugar can lead to health problems such as type two diabetes and obesity. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), The National Health Survey 2020–21 found that one in 20 people had diabetes. Diabetes Australia labelled diabetes ‘the silent pandemic’.

Reducing sugar in food, without compensating for sweetness, can reduce the taste of food; however, replacing sugar with artificial, non-caloric sweeteners can impact flavour profiles, leaving a bitter and metallic aftertaste. Consumers have shown increasing preference for naturally derived sweeteners that more closely resemble the sensory profile of sugar; however, even natural, non-caloric sweeteners can often still possess some liquorice-like and bitter aftertastes.

The findings from the UF research could provide potential for the food industry to produce more food and beverages with lower sugar content and calories, while maintaining sweetness and taste, using natural products.

Yu Wang, Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), managed the multi-year project that found eight new sweetener or sweetness-enhancing compounds in 11 citrus cultivars.

“We were able to identify a natural source for an artificial sweetener, oxime V, that had never been identified from any natural source previously,” said Wang, a faculty member at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida. “This creates expanded opportunities for citrus growers and for breeding cultivars to be selected to obtain high yields of sweetener compounds.”

To date, only six synthetic and two natural sweeteners/sweetness enhancers have been created and used by the food industry that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) currently recognises three categories of sweeteners: artificial, nutritive and natural intense sweeteners.

Eleven selections from the UF/IFAS citrus breeding program were selected. These cultivars included UF 914 (a grapefruit hybrid), and EV-2 and OLL-20 (both sweet oranges). Mandarins, including Sugar Belle, Bingo, 13-51, 18A-4-46, 18A-9-39, 18A-10-38, were also included in the research project.

The research methodology also suggested that efficiencies of identifying flavour metabolites could be improved. This research was recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Image credit: iStock.com/Sarsmis