New, Low-Calorie Sweetener May Also Provide Health Benefits

The study found that the sweetener could also improve gut health.

People love their sweets, as seen in the huge variety of soft drinks, candies, and baked goods sold around the world. However, consuming too much artificial sweeteners or white table sugar can have negative health effects. Researchers searching for a better sweetener have recently published findings in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry of American Chemical Society (ACS). The low-calorie mix is ​​as sweet as table sugar and, in lab tests, feeds “good” gut microbes.

Artificial sweeteners have skyrocketed in popularity because they allow people to enjoy sweets without the accompanying calories. Although they are believed to be safe for people to consume, research in both humans and animals suggests that some of them can stimulate appetite, resulting in increased food intake and weight gain, as well as other negative outcomes to health.

As a result, scientists have begun to search for low-calorie or very sweet compounds derived from natural sources as possible substitutes. Galactooligosaccharides, for example, are low-calorie sugars with prebiotic activity that can be a source of energy for beneficial gut microbes, but are not sweet enough to replace table sugar. These sugars can be found in the milk of mammals. Alternatively, mogrosides, which are 200 to 300 times sweeter than table sugar, are found in extracts of the luo han guo fruit. However, these extracts sometimes contain off-flavors that can be removed with enzymes.

So, F. Javier Moreno and his colleagues wanted to take advantage of the best aspects of both natural substances, using enzymes to modify mogrosides and at the same time produce galactooligosaccharides for a new low-calorie sweetener.

The researchers started with lactose and mogroside V (the main mogroside in luo han guo fruit). When they added β-galactosidase enzymes, the researchers obtained a mixture that contained mainly galactooligosaccharides and a small amount of modified mogrosides. A trained sensory panel reported that the new combination had a sweetness similar to that of sucrose (table sugar), suggesting that it might be acceptable to consumers.

In test-tube experiments, the new sweetener increased levels of multiple beneficial human gut microbes, including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus bacterial species. Additionally, increases in metabolites produced by bacteria, such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate, indicated that the blend might have a prebiotic effect on the gut microbiome. The researchers say the new sweetener shows promise in these initial analyses, and their next step is to study the substance’s impact on human gut health more closely.

Reference: “Prebiotic potential of a new sweetener based on modified galactooligosaccharides and mogrosides” by Ana Muñoz-Labrador, Rosa Lebrón-Aguilar, Jesús E. Quintanilla-López, Plácido Galindo-Iranzo, Silvana M. Azcarate, Sofia Kolida, Vasiliki Kachrimanidou , Virginia García-Cañas, Lisa Methven, Robert A. Rastall, F. Javier Moreno and Oswaldo Hernández-Hernández, July 13, 2022, Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.2c01363

The study was funded by Optibiotix Health Plc (York, UK), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. One of the study authors is an employee of Optibiotix Health Plc.