The new national standard of steviol glycoside food safety: all these changes!

Recently, 18 national food safety standards including "National Food Safety Standard Food Additives Steviol Glucoside" have begun to solicit public opinions. As a natural sugar substitute that is very popular in the market, stevia has been used in various new food and beverage products to replace sucrose in recent years. According to INNOVA data, from 2014 to 2018, the number of new product releases using stevia worldwide increased by an average of 13% annually. Among the new global food and beverage products in 2019, the amount of stevia used as a sweetener has been second only to sucralose and acesulfame K.

my country is a big exporter of stevia. At present, the domestic planting area has reached 400,000 mu, the output of stevia is 9,000 tons, and the industrial scale is 4 billion. my country's stevia extract has been ranked first in the export of extracts for many years. In 2019, it exported 6000 tons and earned 280 million US dollars in foreign exchange. The update of relevant laws and regulations will undoubtedly have a significant impact. Compared with GB 8270-2014, what changes have been made to the new version of the national standard for steviol glycosides for comments?

Modification of standard scope

Steviol glycosides are obtained from dry leaves of stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni through extraction and purification. Glycosides include stevioside, rebaudiana Bertoni A, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, and rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, rebaudioside M, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside O, duketoside A, sweet tea glycosides and steviol diglycoside, etc. These glycosides are found in stevia leaves The content, sweetness, and taste are different. Among them, stevioside and rebaudioside A are the most content, and the content of other glycosides is relatively rare.

Several major international laws and regulations have different regulations on the scope of sweet glycoside compounds. Among them, GB 8270-2014 has 9 types, which are similar to the US Food Chemical Code (FCC Ⅺ), Japanese Food Additives Regulations (JSFA 9), and Korean Food The Additives Code (2019) is the same, the European Commission Regulation (EU) No.231/2012 has 11 types, and the International Codex Alimentarius Commission Food Additives Joint Expert Committee (JECFA 2017) has 13 types.

This consultation draft refers to JECFA 2017. On the basis of GB 8270-2014, four new glycosides including rebaudioside E, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside O, and rebaudioside M have been added. The molecular formula, structural formula and relative molecular weight of 13 glycosides have been added. The greatest impact is undoubtedly the increase of rebaudioside M. Rebaudioside M is also known as "the next generation of stevioside." As can be seen from the figure below, among steviol glycosides, rebaudioside M has the highest sweetness. At the same time, it has almost no bitterness and aftertaste, which is closest to the taste of sucrose. It can be said that the higher the content of rebaudioside M in stevioside, the more it resembles real sugar, but the original content of rebaudioside M in stevia leaves is very rare. Therefore, how to increase the production of rebaudioside M , Has become a difficult problem for the world's major stevia manufacturers to overcome.

Currently, there are three main ways to obtain a large amount of rebaudioside M. One is to synthesize from stevia extract by genetically modified yeast to obtain high-purity Rebaudioside M (Reb-M 95%). The processing aid used in the synthesis process is uridine 5'-diphosphate-glucuronic acid Base transferase can promote the conversion of glucuronic acid into small molecular glycosidic bonds. The final product is still non-GMO. The representative product is SweeGen's Bestevia Reb-M. The other is to use genetically engineered yeast to ferment glucose into rebaudioside M, but stevia leaves are not used in the production process, so it can no longer be regarded as a sweetener of "natural plant origin". The representative product is DSM's Avansya Reb M and Cargill's EverSweet. There is also a Stevia variety that contains a large amount of Rebaudioside M through breeding. The representative product is Starleaf of Pessecco. Compared with ordinary Stevia, this variety can produce 20% more Rebaudioside. Glycoside M component.

Sensory requirements modification

This consultation draft adds the status of "particles" to GB 8270-2014.

Modification of physical and chemical indicators

In terms of physical and chemical indicators, the draft for comments revised the index requirements for steviol glycoside content (calculated on a dry basis), and the content (calculated on a dry basis) was changed from 85% to 90%, which puts forward higher requirements for the quality of steviol glycosides ; Also revised the indicator name of "ignition residue" to "ash content"; changed the indicator name of "total arsenic (calculated as As)" to "arsenic (As)"; and put the pH requirement in the identification test into the physical and chemical indicators.

Modification of inspection method

In terms of inspection methods, the GB 8270-2014 "Method 1: Calculate the content of rebaudioside A and other 8 glycosides (conversion of ST formula weight ratio) Method 2: Calculate the content of 9 glycosides (conversion of ST formula weight ratio)" Modified to "1. Calculate the content of 8 glycosides such as Rebaudioside A (converted by RA formula weight ratio); 2. Calculate the content of 5 glycosides such as Rebaudioside D (converted by RD formula weight ratio)"; Added PH Value (in acidity).

summary

"Sugar-free" is one of the hottest topics nowadays. Consumers who do not want to sacrifice the taste and are unwilling to gain weight are increasingly favoring sugar-free beverages with "0 sugar, 0 calories and 0 fat", which also promotes the continuation of the sugar substitute market. increase. Stevia does not cause an increase in blood sugar concentration after ingested by the human body, nor does it promote an increase in blood insulin concentration. Compared with sugar alcohol substitutes, it is better tolerated and healthier, which is its advantage. However, a large number of stevia with rebaudioside A as the main ingredient on the market has the disadvantage of poor taste, making it less popular in China than the popular erythritol. With the continuous improvement of stevioside-related regulations, a new generation of stevioside with rebaudioside M as the core will undoubtedly become the mainstream of the future industry, which also puts forward higher requirements for domestic stevioside manufacturers.