Sensient Launches Natural Functional Flavoring for Sugar Reduction

28 Aug 2015 --- New from Sensient Flavors, APSS Plus is an innovative natural functional flavoring that compensates for the sensory drawbacks that occur when sugar is reduced in beverages. The natural flavoring enables manufacturers to cut sugar significantly without having to use additional sweeteners. It provides sugar-reduced beverages with harmonized and full-bodied sensory profiles and is particularly suitable for the production of mid-calorie beverages that are free from additional sweeteners and therefore have shorter on-pack ingredients lists.

Acting as neutral building blocks, APSS Plus flavor allows the sensory profile of the sugar “gold” standard to be maintained, even if the sugar content in the beverage is cut dramatically. What makes the functional flavoring unique is the fact that it can be used with different types of drinks with various starting brix. Internal trials with cola, strawberry-flavored water and RTD peach ice tea have shown that APSS Plus enables sugar reduction of up to 30 per cent. The results also clearly demonstrated that in all cases, the new flavoring successfully compensates for loss of sweetness, body, flavor, longevity and aroma intensity while also improving fruity and fleshy notes. 

APSS Plus is fully soluble and can be used across all flavor tonalities to rebalance the sensory profile when sugar has been reduced. A vital component are Sensient Natural Origins extracts, which are derived via state-of-the-art extraction technologies from the finest raw materials. The resulting extracts are characterized by key volatiles that evoke the perception of sweetness associated with sugar. In creating APSS Plus, Sensient has chosen carefully selected Sensient Natural Origins extracts from naturally sweet ingredients. 

“Every beverage provides its own challenges. When it comes to reducing sugar in already low brix beverages in particular, it is a challenge to create well balanced taste profiles,” explains Stefano Asti, Technical Director at Sensient Flavors Beverage Europe. “However, our flavoring expertise has enabled us to create an advanced line of ingredients which offer manufacturers the perfect solution for every kind of drink and every starting brix.”