Cargill improves stevia taste, finds alternative to sugar

FRESNO - Food giant Cargill has devised a new technology that will minimize the flaws of the current stevia-based sweeteners. This technique will result in a less bitter stevia taste and is named ViaTech, according to Consudel.

When stevia is used, the desired sweet taste the product gives is slightly delayed. The new technique is said to change this and result in an instant release of sweetness.

The new ViaTech technology is all about the deconstruction of stevia leaves. Each glycoside (a sugar compound in stevia) is analysed for specific characteristics like sweetness, delay and bitterness. The loose molecules are then ready to be re-assembled in various other compositions.

There is one problem; stevia leaves don’t currently hold enough of these glycosides to attempt this. However, according to Cargill this can be solved by using a special fermentation technology. To develop this technology, Cargill is working closely with the Swiss company Evolva, a fermentation specialist.