Food and agricultural scientists from the University of Florida are dreaming big.
In a new study, they report finding new sweetener compounds in citrus fruits – potential sugar substitutes that they claim “could change the food and beverage industry”.
Let’s hope so.
Given the sugar-charged obesity epidemic, we could do with an all-natural, zero-kilojoule sugar substitute that tastes good and is proven to be safe – and is believed to be safe.
Is such a commodity – a sweetener without consequences– even possible?
Artificial sweeteners have been under a cloud of suspicion – and the source of endless argument – for more than 50 years.
The big question commonly pondered is: do they give you cancer?
Argument heating up
In April, we reported on controversial French research that found artificial sweeteners – synthetic sugar substitutes cooked up in labs – weren’t safe, and that removing them from your diet could reduce the risk of cancer.
But even if they don’t kill you with a tumour, they’re probably making you fat, and wrecking your heart – which tends to bother people less than cancer.
A 2016 paper from the University of Sydney describes how the cloying, super sweetness of artificial sweeteners tricks the mammalian brain into thinking it is in starvation mode hungry – leading you to eat more.
And that’s how, potentially, you can give yourself a heart attack or stroke – while believing you were doing a most sensible and life-preserving thing by cutting down on sugar.
If true, and the evidence is mounting, we’ve gone beyond disturbing and plunged into absurdity.
To add insult to injury, the hyper-sweetness of sugar substitutes is horrible, but at least one is distracted by that bitter metallic after-taste.
What are these new sweeteners?
It’s early days.
The study has been widely reported, with not much of the science discussed.
A press release from the university’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is short on detail, advising that a “multi-year project” found eight new sweetener or sweetness-enhancing compounds in 11 citrus cultivars (trees cultivated to exhibit certain traits).
The new compounds were taken from a grapefruit hybrid and a number of sweet oranges and mandarins.
The compounds were identified by a process called metabolomics analysis that investigated all the small molecules in the citrus samples.
The project, managed by Dr Yu Wang, associate professor of food science at the institute, revealed an oddity.
“Surprisingly, we identified naturally occurring oxime V, which previously was only known as a synthetic compound,” he said.
This was the first time oxime V had been found in a natural source.
What is oxime V?
Actually, there doesn’t seem to be much information about this artificial sweetener, except for a toxicological report that found rats, when fed the sweetener, grew heavier livers.
In addition to looking for sweeteners in citrus, the researchers “looked to find sweetness enhancers that can significantly reduce the amount of sugar required to achieve the same level of perceived sweetness”.
Most of the press release – and much of the reporting on the discovery – has talked about the problems with existing sweeteners and the great potential for making money.
As Dr Wang said: “This creates expanded opportunities for citrus growers and for breeding cultivars to be selected to obtain high yields of sweetener compounds.”
But wait a minute
There are, of course, all natural sugar substitutes.
In October 2021, Healthline – a popular, newsy and helpful site for people “on a journey to health and wellness” – published 10 suggested refined sugar substitutes.
These included stevia – “up to 450 times sweeter than sugar” – derived from the leaves of the South American shrub Stevia rebaudiana.
“Some studies suggest that it may harm your gut microbiome,” says Healthline.
Other sugar substitutes on Healthline’s list includes sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener (from a Chinese native plant), and allulose (“large doses may lead to symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal”).
At this point, Healthline sort of gives up, suggesting dates (sugary dry fruit), “applesauce and other fruit purees”, Yacon syrup (a South American molasses), honey, maple syrup and finally, North American molasses.
The point here being: there is no true all-natural, no-kilojoule, beautiful-tasting and perfectly safe sugar substitute.
But boy, if only one would come along.
Hence the inherent wistful longing when the agricultural news site Growing Produce wrote their headline:
“New sugar substitutes found in citrus could be sweet deal for food and beverage industry.”
If only.
