Highly soluble Rebaudioside D
The invention relates to a process for producing highly soluble compositions containing purified steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant extract, more particularly Rebaudioside D. Obtained highly soluble compositions are useful as non-caloric sweeteners or in combination with sugar or high intensity sweeteners in edible and chewable compositions such as beverages, confectionaries, bakery products, chewing gums and the like.
1. A method of preparing a highly soluble Rebaudioside D composition, comprising the steps of:
a. providing a first composition comprising Rebaudioside D;
b. providing a second composition comprising at least one component selected from the group consisting of: a non-glycosidic fraction of Stevia ; molasses; and caramel color;
c. dissolving the first and second compositions in a solvent selected from the group consisting of water or aqueous alcohol to make a solution; and
d. spray drying the solution to obtain the highly soluble Rebaudioside D composition, wherein said Rebaudioside D composition has a water solubility of at least about 0.05% at 20°C.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the second composition comprises a non-glycosidic fraction of Stevia at a ratio (wt/wt) of the non-glycosidic fraction of Stevia to the first composition of about 1:100 to about 100:1, preferably about 1:2 to about 1:20, more preferably about 1:3 to about 1:10.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the non-glycosidic fraction of Stevia is prepared by a process comprising the steps of:
providing a stevia extract;
dissolving the stevia extract in water or aqueous alcohol to form a stevia extract solution;
passing the stevia extract solution through a chromatographic system packed with macroporous adsorbent resin capable of adsorbing steviol glycosides;
collecting an effluent from the chromatographic system; and
drying the effluent to obtain the non-glycosidic fraction of Stevia.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the stevia extract contains about 10-95%, preferably about 30-90%, and more preferably about 40-85% total steviol glycosides.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the water or aqueous alcohol ratio to dissolved stevia extract solids (vol/wt) is about 1:1 to about 200:1, preferably about 5:1 to about 100:1, more preferably about 10:1 to about 50:1.
6. The method of claim 3 wherein the amount of stevia extract exceeds an adsorption capacity of the adsorbent in the chromatographic system by about 1-10 times, preferably by about 1-5 times, and more preferably by about 1-1.5 times.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the chromatographic system comprises about 1-20 consecutively connected columns, preferably about 1-10 columns, and more preferably about 1-6 columns.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second composition comprises molasses at a ratio (w/w) of molasses to the first composition of about 1:100 to about 100:1, preferably about 1:2 to about 1:20 and more preferably about 1:3 to about 1:10.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the molasses is selected from the group consisting of: sugarcane molasses such as first molasses, second molasses, US grade “A”, “B”, “C”, and substandard blackstrap molasses; beet sugar molasses; boil-back molasses; high-test molasses; refiners' molasses; sweet sorghum syrup; and a combination thereof.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second composition comprises caramel at a ratio (w/w) of caramel to the first composition of about 1:100 to about 100:1, preferably about 1:2 to about 1:20, and more preferably about 1:3 to about 1:10.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the caramel is selected from the group consisting of Class I (INS No: 150 a ), Class II (INS No: 150 b ), Class III (INS No: 150 c ), and Class IV (INS No: 150 d ) caramel colors and combinations thereof.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the drying step comprises spray drying the solution in a spray drier operating at an inlet temperature of about 150-200° C. and an outlet temperature of about 80-120° C.