A mix of stevia, lime and fibre can make juice healthy and tasty. Credit: Colourbox
Do you have a sweet tooth but need to keep a wary eye on your weight and blood sugar level? Then a new cocktail consisting of lime, stevia and β-glucans may be the answer to your prayers. In a study at Aarhus University the effect on the sensory experience of adding these 3 ingredients to juice was investigated. This trinity of ingredients means it is possible to make a tasty fruit beverage that is both low in sugar and high in fiber.
Fruit juice contains beneficial vitamins but often has high sugar and low fiber contents. The challenge is to increase the nutritional value of the juice without spoiling the taste. A team of scientists devised a solution to the problem of combining sweetness with healthiness by adding stevia for sweetness and β-glucans for fiber with a dash of lime to adjust the taste.
Stevia is the only approved natural sweetener in Europe. From a health and technological viewpoint, the effects of using stevia have been purely positive, explains postdoc Line Holler Mielby from the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University. Unfortunately, a characteristic of stevia is its effect on taste. Juice containing stevia has a tendency to leave a bitter aftertaste.
Fiber products that have a positive effect on health include β-glucans – which are naturally occurring in oats, for example. However, β-glucans also have an adverse effect on flavour in that they give the food product a slightly metallic and stale smell.
A remedy has to be found for this and in this instance the choice fell on lime. In the study the scientists used an apple-cherry juice to which varying quantities of lime, β-glucans and stevia were added. The aim was to characterise the sensory experience of the juice.
The addition of lime to the apple-cherry juice could counterbalance the adverse impact on taste of the stevia and β-glucans. The taste of lime in the juice concealed not only the aftertaste of stevia but also the smell of staleness and metals imparted by β-glucans. It would also be relevant to examine other eating experiences, for example satiety, says Line Holler Mielby. http://dca.au.dk/en/current-news/news/show/artikel/soedt-smagfuldt-og-sundt-saadan-kan-saft-ogsaa-laves/
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