USA – Global supplier of sweet taste solutions Sweegen has launched brazzein, a high-intensity sweetener that is reportedly 500 to 2,000 times more sweetener than regular sugar. 

Sweegen becomes the first food ingredient provider to make the sweetener commercially available under the Ultratia brand.  

The launch further expands the number of solutions that food and beverage (F&B) companies can now access in their quest to cut down the amount of sugar in their products.  

Found sparingly in nature, brazzein derives from the West African climbing plant’s fruit, oubli.  

It is stable in a wide range of pH, and it may be used in applications designed to fit consumer diets such as keto, low-glycemic and low-carbohydrates, according to Sweegen. 

The Rancho Santa Margarita-based company further noted that the sweetener has little to no bitter aftertaste and helps reduce sweet linger.  

 “With Sweegen’s Ultratia brazzein, coupled with our portfolio of advanced stevia sweeteners, brands now have modern tools for creating great-tasting products with consumer appeal,” said Sally Aaron, senior vice president of marketing for Sweegen. 

Rarity tops Brazzien’s drawbacks

Despite brazzein’s versatility and ability to overcome several problems that have long plagued the sweetener segment, it has its own significant challenges – most notably its rarity in nature. 

Sweegen and its partner Conagen overcome this hurdle by using a proprietary precision fermentation process, a technology that produces clean and sustainable ingredients. 

Scaling production is a significant hurdle to overcome, but it is not the only one.

The ingredient still requires regulatory approval, which Sweegen says it is currently pursuing across a range of global markets. 

Like other high intensity sweeteners, Ultratia alone cannot fully replicate sugar and will require the addition of other ingredients to mimic sugar both in taste and function, such as bulking.  

Sweegen already has a diverse kit of modern sweeteners, including Bestevia Rebs B, D, E, I, M and N, with which it Ultratia should work synergistically.  

Bonumose to launch Tagatose in H1 of 2022 

Meanwhile, Virginia-based Bonumose plans to open a commercial production facility for the low-glycemic “rare sugar” tagatose this spring.  

The announcement comes after the company achieved regulatory and food application milestones in the US and Canada for the low-glycemic sweetener.  

The sweetener may be used to reduce sugar in applications such as confectionery items, ready-to-eat cereal, cookies, bars, ice cream, yogurt, beverages, and meal replacement drinks, said Ed Rogers, chief executive officer of Bonumose.  

Tagatose which is found in small quantities in some fruits and grains as well as in the cocoa tree is 92% as sweet as sugar and has no aftertaste. 

Bonumose lowers the cost of producing tagatose by using non-dairy, plant-based starch, enzymes, and a streamlined process that eliminates several steps that elevate the cost of tagatose.  

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