Botanical and Protein Sweeteners

Plant species with unusual taste properties such as bitterness, sourness or sweetness and others with a taste- modifying components; have long been known to man, although their exploitation has been limited. Exponential growth in the number of patients suffering from diseases caused by the consumption of sugar has become a threat to mankind's health. Artificial low-calorie sweeteners available in the market may have severe side effects. It takes time to figure out the long-term side effects and by the time these are established, they are replaced by a new low-calorie sweetener. Saccharine has been used for centuries to sweeten foods and beverages without calories or carbohydrate. It was also used on a large scale during the sugar shortage of the two world wars but was abandoned as soon as it was linked with the development of bladder cancer. Naturally occurring sweet and taste modifying proteins (Thaumatin, Curculin, Miraculin, Brazzein, Pentadin, Monellin, Mabinlin) present in plants such as Thaumatococcus daniellii (Marantaceae), Curculigo latifolia (Hypoxidaceae), Synsepalum dulcificum (Sapotaceae), Pentadiplandra brazzeana (Pentadiplandraceae), Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii (Menispermaceae), Capparis masaikai (Capparaceae) are being seen as potential replacements for the currently available artificial low calorie sweeteners. Most protein sweetener plants such as S. dulcificum, P. brazzeana, C. masaikai, are shrubs; C. latifolia, T. daniellii, are perennial herbs while D. Cumminsii is an annual liana.