Zero-calorie, natural sweetener

Stevia is a leafy green plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni). It belongs to a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs that are part of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) that are native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply Stevia, is widely grown around the world today and its sweet leaves are used in a variety of forms as a high-intensity sweetener.

The value of the global sweetener market is currently estimated at USD $70 billion, with sugar the dominant product. Within this market, Stevia-based sweeteners are the fastest growing segment, with demand driven in part because Stevia extracts have 200-300 times the sweetness of sugar, but also because of increasing consumer demand for low-carbohydrate-low-sugar for health, wellness, and performance products. By enabling the introduction of new sweetener products with compelling health, taste and other benefits for consumers, fermentation-derived Stevia can potentially take an important part of the overall sweetener market.

Stevia-based sweeteners are high-intensity sweeteners used today in dairy products, health drinks and carbonated and still beverages. With its steviol glycoside extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, Stevia has garnered attention because of the rise in demand for low-carb, low-calorie, low-sugar food alternatives. Stevia does not raise blood glucose—meaning that the steviol glycosides responsible for Stevia’s sweet taste do not induce a glycaemic response when consumed—which makes it an appealing sweetener for individuals diagnosed with metabolic syndrome who have been advised to strictly adhere to a strict, carbohydrate-controlled diet.

Fermentation-derived Stevia is a highly purified form of the Stevia sweetener produced through fermentation rather than by refining of extracts from cultivated Stevia leaves. Fermentation is commonly used to produce a variety of food products ranging from wine to cheese.

Progress

In 2009 Evolva entered an agreement with Abunda regarding the discovery and development of one particular family of food ingredients, and in October 2010 this was expanded and extended to cover additional families. In this collaboration Evolva’s technology is applied to create new and optimised biosynthetic pathways. One part of this collaboration has focused on advancing highly purified forms of the natural high intensity sweetener Stevia, produced via fermentation in yeast. The research is primarily located at Evolva’s Copenhagen and Chennai sites.

With the acquisition of Abunda in July 2011, the Stevia high-intensity sweetener project became a proprietary programme within Evolva. The research team have successfully made the key individual molecules of Stevia via fermentation in yeast. Evolva believes the product has significant market potential by allowing for the first time the individual molecules to be blended to achieve customised taste profiles for particular products, in addition to greatly simplifying the Stevia supply chain. Over the next year, the focus will be on optimising the production host and associated manufacturing conditions.