DESCRIPTION

Steviol Glycosides occur as a white or light yellow powder, flakes, or granules. They are slightly to freely soluble in ethanol and water (50:50, v/v), and very slightly to freely soluble in water. Steviol Glycosides can be obtained from three processes:

• Extraction: Steviol Glycosides are extracted from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) plant using an aqueous or aqueous alcoholic (ethanol or methanol) solvent and purification of the resulting mixture of steviol glycosides by resin adsorption/desorption. An aqueous or aqueous alcoholic (ethanol or methanol) solvent may be used to recrystallize the steviol glycosides. Spray-drying may also be used to produce the final product.

• Fermentation: Steviol Glycosides are obtained from the fermentation of nontoxigenic, nonpathogenic strains of Yarrowia lipolytica and Saccharomyces cerevisiae that have been genetically modified with heterologous genes from multiple donor organisms to overexpress steviol glycosides. The fermented product undergoes solid-liquid separation and heat treatment to remove the biomass, followed by purification by resin adsorption/desorption.

• Enzyme modification: Steviol Glycosides are obtained by treating purified steviol glycosides extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) with enzymes produced by nontoxigenic nonpathogenic strains of Pichia pastoris and Escherichia coli that have been genetically modified with genes from multiple donor organisms to produce glucosyltransferase and sucrose synthase. The resulting material undergoes heat treatment and filtration to denature and remove the enzymes, followed by purification by resin adsorption/desorption.

Stevioside, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside D, and rebaudioside M are the principal component glycosides of interest for their sweetening properties. Other glycosides that may be present include rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside O, dulcoside A, rubusoside, and steviolbioside (and additional minor glycosides), depending on the manufacturing process used.