WO 2012/104726 A2 9 August 2012 (09.08.2012) P O P C T
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(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) (19) World Intellectual Property Organization International Bureau (10) International Publication Number (43) International Publication Date WO 2012/104726 A2 9 August 2012 (09.08.2012) P O P C T (51) International Patent Classification: LOGY CO., LTD [CN/CN]; 4/F, 3/D, B Building, No. 12 A23L 1/236 (2006.01) Hongdu Beilu, Economic and Technical Development Area, Beijing 100176 (CN). (21) International Application Number: PCT/IB20 12/000328 (72) Inventors; and (75) Inventors/Applicants (for US only): SHI, Jingang (22) International Filing Date: [CN/CN]; Room 1908, No 414 Building, Wangjingxiy- 1 February 2012 (01 .02.2012) uansiqu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102 (CN). (25) Filing Language: English WANG, Hansheng [CN/CN]; Room 84-1-18, No. 18, Yingxin Road, Jiancaoping District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi (26) Publication Language: English 030008 (CN). DENG, Mingming [CN/CN]; No. 14 (30) Priority Data: Chaoyangmen S. Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing 61/438,392 1 February 201 1 (01.02.201 1) US 100020 (CN). 13/362,673 31 January 2012 (3 1.01.2012) US (81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every (71) Applicant (for all designated States except US) : E.P.C. kind of national protection available): AE, AG, AL, AM, (BEIJING) PLANT PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNO¬ AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BR, BW, BY, BZ, [Continued on nextpage] (54) Title: STEVIA SWEETENER WITH A SURFACTANT 1 (57) Abstract: The invention describes compositions that include a stevia sweetener and a surfactant, wherein the concentration of the components provide an improved taste profile where bitterness, after taste and/or linger ing of the stevia sweetener is decreased or eliminated. Effective Diameter; 218,4 n Polydispersity: .290 Baseline Index; 5.0/ 9 % Elapsed Time; :1 : w o 2012/104726 A 2 1inn iiiiiii II II i I I il i III ill i i i i i il i mill mi i i CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DO, GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, RW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, UG, ZM, ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KN, KP, RU, TJ, TM), European (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, KR, KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, ME, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, NO, NZ, OM, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR), OAPI (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, RW, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, GA, GN, GQ, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG). TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, ZM, ZW. Published: — without international search report and to be republished (84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every upon receipt of that report (Rule 48.2(g)) kind of regional protection available): ARIPO (BW, GH, STEVIA SWEETENER WITH A SURFACTANT CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [001] This application claims benefit of U.S. Utility Patent Application No. 13/362,673, filed January 31, 2012, entitled "Stevia Sweetener with a Surfactant", and under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61/438,392, filed February 1, 201 , entitled "Stevia Sweetener with a Surfactant", the contents of which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [002] The invention relates generally to compositions of stevia sweeteners that include one or more surfactants. It is believed that the use of surfactants helps to eliminate the associated bitter aftertaste associated with stevia sweeteners. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [003] Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. [004] The species Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. The leaves have traditionally been used as a sweetener. Steviosides and rebaudiosides are the major constituents of glycosides found in the leaves of the stevia plant. [005] Stevia extracts generally contain a high percentage of the glycosides of the diterpene steviol. The leaves of stevia rebaudiana contain 0 different steviol glycosides. Steviol glycosides are considered high intensity sweeteners (about 250-300 times that of sucrose) and have been used for several years in a number of countries as a sweetener for a range of food products. Stevioside and rebaudioside A are the principal sweetening compounds and generally accompanied by smaller amounts of other steviol glycosides. The taste quality of rebaudioside A is better than stevioside, because of increased sweetness and decreased bitterness (Phytochemistry 68, 2007, 1855-1863). [006] The structures and chemical abstract service registry numbers for steviol and its glycosides that are the main sweetening agents of the additive steviol glycosides are shown below: [007] Steviol glycoside preparations are generally white to light yellow powders that are freely soluble in water and ethanol. The powders can be odorless or have a slight characteristic odor. Aqueous solutions are 200 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose under identical conditions. With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. [008] Medical research has also shown possible benefits of stevia in treating obesity and high blood pressure. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate- controlled diets. [009] Stevia sweeteners, for example, rebaudioside A (RA), one of the steviol glycosides, is regarded as a promising substitute of sugar, but it still has some drawbacks. When it is dissolved in an aqueous solution, there is a significant taste profile that differs from sugar, such as slow onset, bitterness and a lingering aftertaste. These drawbacks are some of the reasons that have resulted in unsatisfactory acceptable by consumers for stevia sweeteners, such as RA. The taste profile has become a key barrier to the use of stevia sweeteners in food or beverage applications, even if it has been approved as a food additive by the FDA. It is generally recognized that some impurities in stevia sweeteners are related to the aforementioned disadvantages. In recent years, a great deal of focus has been on obtaining a high purity of RA, from the initial 50%, 80%, 90% to the present 95%, 97%, 99%, up to 100%. However, with regard to 100% purity, sensory tests still show that a 200 pp aqueous solution cannot bring a perfect taste close to sugar, and bitterness and aftertaste issues appear strongly at higher concentrations, for example, at a 500 ppm concentration. As a sweetener and as a promising sugar substitute, the taste of RA etc. must be further improved in order to meet sensory requirements for its applications in food and beverage, especially for use at high concentrations. [01 0] Therefore, a need exists for an improved stevia sweetener that overcomes one or more of the current disadvantages noted above. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [01 The present invention surprisingly provides a stevia sweetener, e.g., one or more steviol glycoside(s), with one or more surfactant(s). The resulting compositions, address one or more of the above-identified current disadvantages of stevia sweeteners. [01 ] The present inventors surprisingly found that aqueous RA solutions have specific dispersions and that the dispersions determine the taste profile. Different concentrations of the steviol glycoside material impacts the taste profile. The various dispersions demonstrate that RA molecules do not have a uniform distribution or dispersion in aqueous solutions, such as water. In various aqueous solutions, it was found that several RA molecules associate together to form assembled groups. These assembled groups can be considered as molecular aggregates, colloidal particles, agglomerates, clusters or micelles to describe the assembly of the individual particles of RA in a solution. In the present invention, the term "micelle" will be used to describe these various states of steviol glycosides, such as RA, in solutions. [013] Thus the present invention provides aqueous micellar dispersions of a stevia sweetener (e.g., one or more steviol glycosides) with one or more surfactants that reduce the agglomeration of the steviol glycoside components, such that sweetness is increased and/or bitterness is decreased (relative to solutions devoid of a surfactant). A multimodal distribution of micelles can be present in the aqueous composition [0 ] While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. As will be apparent, the invention is capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the detailed descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [015] Figure 1 is a "blank" control sample. [016] Figure 2 is control sample . [017] Figure 3 is control sample 2. [018] Figure 4 is a DLS of a 2% solution of RA. [019] Figure 5 is a DLS of a 0.8% solution of RA. [020] Figure 6 is a DLS of a 500 ppm solution of RA. [021] Figure 7 is a DLS of a 500 ppm solution of A without gum Arabic. [022] Figure 8 is a DLS of a 500 ppm solution of RA with 50 ppm gum Arabic.