Sweetener Composition with Anti-Foaming Agent and Flavor Enhancer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Low-calorie sweeteners often lack the desirable taste characteristics of sucrose, such as sweetness onset and linger, and can have bitter or off-tastes, making them unsuitable replacements in food products.
Innovation Solution
A sweetener composition combining at least one sweetener, an anti-foaming agent, and a high-potency flavour enhancer with hydrophilic and hydrophobic structural moieties, used below its sweetness threshold, to improve the temporal sweetness profile.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If low or zero-calorie sweeteners are used to replace high calorie sugars, then calorie intake is reduced, but taste characteristics and temporal profile deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining multiple sweeteners with different temporal profiles (e.g., rapid-onset sweeteners like sucralose with slower-onset sweeteners like allulose) to create a blended composition that mimics the temporal profile of sucrose. This composite approach allows the mixture to exhibit properties that individual components lack, specifically achieving both rapid sweetness onset and prolonged linger while maintaining low calories.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by adjusting the concentration ratios of different sweeteners in the composition to optimize the temporal profile. By varying the proportions of fast-acting versus slow-acting sweeteners, the invention fine-tunes the sweetness onset time, peak intensity, and linger duration to match natural sugar characteristics, thereby resolving the taste deterioration issue while maintaining calorie reduction.
2Use of energy by moving object
If low or zero-calorie sweeteners are used to replace high calorie sugars, then calorie intake is reduced, but bitterness and off-tastes increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies blessing in disguise by using sweeteners that individually exhibit bitterness or off-tastes at certain concentrations, but when combined in specific ratios, these harmful characteristics cancel each other out. For example, the bitter aftertaste of one sweetener may be masked by the clean finish of another, transforming individual deficiencies into a harmonious overall taste profile that resembles natural sugar.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by optimizing the concentration levels of each sweetener component to minimize bitterness and off-tastes. By carefully controlling the amounts of each ingredient and adjusting pH, temperature, and other formulation parameters, the invention suppresses unwanted taste characteristics while preserving the desired sweetness and temporal profile, thereby eliminating the harmful taste effects despite calorie reduction.
3Quantity of substance
If sweetener blends are used to reduce high calorie sugar, then sugar content is reduced, but temporal profile and sweetness onset delay
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-mixing sweeteners with different dissolution rates and temporal profiles in optimized ratios before use. This pre-formulation ensures that when the composition is added to a beverage or food, the rapid-onset sweeteners dissolve and activate first, providing immediate sweetness, while slower-onset sweeteners follow, creating a seamless temporal profile that mimics natural sugar without delay.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by creating a multi-component sweetener system where each component contributes a specific temporal characteristic. The composite blend includes fast-dissolving sweeteners for immediate sweetness onset, mid-range sweeteners for sustained presence, and slow-dissolving sweeteners for prolonged linger, collectively reproducing the temporal profile of sucrose while reducing total sugar content.
Data Source
AI summary
A sweetener composition comprising: at least one sweetener; at least one anti-foaming agent; and at least one flavour enhancer, wherein the flavour enhancer is: at least one high potency sweetener that contains hydrophilic and hydrophobic structural moieties; and used in an amount below its sweetness threshold.