Steviol Glycoside Solubility Enhancers for Room-Temperature Dissolution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Rebaudiosides, commonly used as sweeteners, face challenges due to low water solubility, requiring high processing temperatures and labor-intensive methods to achieve dissolution, which limits their use in food and beverage applications.
Innovation Solution
The use of steviol glycoside solubility enhancers, such as hydroxycinnamic acids and phenolic compounds, to improve the solubility of rebaudiosides in aqueous solutions, allowing for higher concentrations of steviol glycosides to remain in solution at room temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If rebaudiosides are used as sweeteners, then sweetness is provided, but water solubility is low requiring high processing temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs solubility enhancers (such as cyclodextrins, surfactants, or co-solvents) as intermediary substances that facilitate the dissolution of rebaudiosides in water. These enhancers form inclusion complexes or micellar structures that increase the apparent solubility of the poorly soluble steviol glycosides, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining low processing temperatures and achieving adequate solubility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies physical-chemical parameters of the system by adjusting pH, ionic strength, or adding specific additives to change the solubility characteristics of rebaudiosides. By altering these parameters, the patent enables dissolution at lower temperatures while maintaining or enhancing the sweetness functionality.
2Quantity of substance
If high processing temperatures are used to achieve dissolution, then solubility is improved, but processing complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
By introducing solubility enhancers as mediators, the patent eliminates the need for high-temperature processing. These enhancers enable dissolution at ambient or refrigerated temperatures, dramatically reducing energy consumption while achieving the required solubility levels for commercial applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical environment through pH adjustment or additive incorporation, allowing dissolution to occur at lower temperatures. This parameter modification approach replaces thermal energy input with chemical facilitation, reducing overall energy consumption of the processing system.
3Quantity of substance
If high processing temperatures are used, then dissolution is achieved, but processing time and labor intensity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies solubility enhancers beforehand to pre-condition the dissolution environment. This preliminary action creates a favorable chemical environment that accelerates dissolution kinetics, allowing rapid mixing at low temperatures and significantly reducing both processing time and labor intensity compared to traditional high-temperature methods.
Solution Approach 2:
Solubility enhancers act as intermediaries that bridge the gap between rebaudiosides and water, enabling rapid dissolution through enhanced wetting and solvation. This intermediary mechanism eliminates the need for prolonged heating and stirring, reducing processing time while maintaining complete dissolution.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the solubility of steviol glycosides like rebaudioside M and D by 1 to 100 times, enabling their effective use in food, beverages, and other sweetened compositions without the need for high-temperature processing.
Implementation Method 1
The use of steviol glycoside solubility enhancers, such as hydroxycinnamic acids and phenolic compounds, to improve the solubility of rebaudiosides in aqueous solutions
Data Source
AI summary
A solubilized steviol glycoside composition including one or more steviol glycosides and one or more steviol glycoside solubility enhancers can be used as a sweetener composition to sweeten other compositions (sweetenable compositions) such as foods, beverages, medicines, oral hygiene compositions, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and the like.