Zero-Calorie Prebiotic Sweeteners Could Replace Sugar as a Food Ingredient

Human taste studies carried out by the Flavour and Sensory Science Centre at England’s University of Reading have found that zero-calorie prebiotic sweeteners, developed by OptiBiotix Health, are significantly sweeter than other existing sugars and sweeteners. These results suggest that the natural, zero-calorie, healthy prebiotic sweeteners could work as bulk sugar replacements in a wide range of food and drink products, the company said.

These high-intensity prebiotic oligosaccharides, SweetBiotix, are naturally sweet and healthy fibers which are not digested in the gut, meaning that they are calorie-free. OptiBiotix has been developing these fibers as potential bulk sugar replacements, as they have sweetness similar to sucrose but contain no calories. In addition, as the fibers are prebiotics; they also work to improve microbiome diversity, which has been linked to numerous health benefits, the company said.

The University of Reading study tested eight samples of sugars and sweeteners, including OptiBiotix’s oligosaccharides. A panel of 11 experienced experts rated 11 attributes, including sweet taste, strength of off-flavor (e.g. bitterness, saltiness), and sweet aftertaste, compared to sucrose. The sweet oligosaccharide developed by OptiBiotix was found to be significantly sweeter than all other samples, as well as low in all off-flavours, including bitterness, sourness, staleness, and saltiness. The most substantial differences between the samples were in sweet taste, strength of off-flavor, and sweet after taste.

“OptiBiotix’s oligosaccharides performed very well against the other samples in our study, particularly on overall sweetness,” said Dr. Lisa Methven, Director of the University of Reading’s Sensory Science Centre, and lead investigator on the study. “These results suggest that these sweet prebiotic fibers could work well as bulk sugar replacements in food and drink products, although further functionality testing is needed.”

Previous studies of OptiBiotix’s SweetBiotix oligosaccharides have shown that they are both safe for human consumption, and between 140-223 times the sweetness of sucrose. This means that a far lower concentration of oligosaccharides would be required to achieve the same level of sweetness as sucrose.