Following are some of the numbers for the relative sweetness of sweeteners and sugars. It is the standard to compare the sweetness of a product to sucrose.
SUGAR AND SWEETENERS | RATING | ||
fructose | 140 | 173 | 140 |
HFCS | 120-160 | ||
sucrose | 100 | 100 | 100 |
glucose | 70-80 | 74.3 | 70-80 |
70DE corn syrup | 70-75 | 70-75 | |
regular cornsyrup | 50 | ||
maltose | 30-50 | 32.5 | 30-50 |
galactose | 32.1 | ||
lactose | 20 | 16.0 | 20 |
high conversion corn syrup | 65 | ||
regular conversion corn syrup | 50 | ||
HFCS-90% | 120-160 | ||
HFCS-55% | >100 | ||
HFCS-42% | 100 | ||
invert sugar | 50 | ||
sorbitol | 50 | ||
xylitol | 100 | ||
saccharin | 30,000-50,000 | ||
sucrol [dulcin] | 20,000 | ||
honey | 97 | ||
molasses | 74 | ||
sorghum syrup | 69 | ||
corn syrup | 30 | ||
Low cal Sweenener |
Manufacturer | Intensity(sweetness of sugar) |
Saccharin | PMC | 300X |
Aspartame | NutraSweet Co. | 180X |
Acesulfame K | Hoechst Celanese | 200X |
Alitame | Pfizer | 2,000X |
Sucralose | McNeil | 600X |
Relative Sweetness of Sugar Alcohols [25C tap water; sucrose 100.
Xylitol | 90 | |
Sorbitol | 63 | |
Galactitol | 58 | |
Malitol | 68 | |
Lactitol | 35 |
Approximately Sweetness with Sucrose=1.
acesulfame K | 200 | |
aspartame | 180 | |
chloroderivatives of sucrose | 5-20000 | |
cyclamate | 30 | |
dihydrochalcones | 300-2000 | |
fructose[crystalline] | 1.2 - 1.7 | |
glycyrrhizin | 50-100 | |
HFCS[55%] | 1 | |
HFCS[90%] | 1.5 | |
L-sugars | 1 | |
mannitol | 0.7 | |
monellin | 1500-2000 | |
saccharin | 300 | |
sorbitol | .54-0.7 | |
stevioside | 300 | |
talin | 2000-3000 | |
xylitol | 1 | |
What are the practical implications of the varying sweetness?
What do the above sugars have in common?
The problem with having a number for sweetness is that it does not take into account the interactions. Powers [Powers, M.A. 1994. Sweetener blending: How sweet it is!. Journal American Dietetic Association 94: 498.] discusses the synergy and interaction between individual sugars and sweeteners. These interactions were summarized as follows:
Permission Pending for Excerpt from Powers, M.A. 1994. Sweetener blending: How sweet it is!. Journal American Dietetic Association 94: 498. |
Guthrie, J.F. and J.F. Morton. 2000January. Food sources of added sweeteners in the diets of Americans. Journal American Dietetic Association 100(1): 43. Hussain, R.A., L.J. Poveda, J.M. Pezzuto, D.D. Soejarto, and A.D. Kinghorn. 1990April-June. Sweetening agents of plant origin: phenylpropanoid constituents of seven sweet-tasting plants. Economics Botany 44(1): 174.
Negbi, M. 1992January-March. A sweetmeat plant, a perfume plant and their weedy relatives: a chapter in the history of Cyperus esculentus L. and C. rotundus L. Economics Botany 46(1): 64.
Powers, M.A. 1994May. Sweetener blending: How sweet it is! Journal American Dietetic Association 94: 498.
Shallenberger, R.S. 1980. Predicting sweetness from chemical structure and knowledge of chemoreception. Food Technology 34(1): 65.
Shallenberger, R.S. 1990. Introduction to sweetness chemistry. Cereal Foods World : 377.
Soejarto, D.D., C.M. Compadre, P.J. Medon, S.K. Kamath, and A.D. Kinghorn. 1983. Potential sweetening agents of plant origin. II. Field search for sweet-tasting Stevia species. Economic Botany : 71.