Sweeteners
behind this technology is simple – plants contain a repository of useful compounds, which are suitable for all kinds of human needs. The problem is that nature can be inefficient. It doesn’t provide these compounds in the kind of concentrations that are needed for industrial use.
Innovative plant-derived sweeteners, grown without traditional farming or genetic modification, are shaping the future of healthy eating.
Curbing sweet teeth
Sugar reduction, on the other hand, remains a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. According to the International Food Information Council’s 2024 Food and Health Survey, 76% of Americans are trying to avoid sugar or limit their sugar consumption (up from 72% in 2023). More and more low-sugar products are hitting the shelves, with this segment of the market growing faster than higher sugar alternatives. “Consumers in most markets are seeking out reduced sugar or no added sugar foods and drinks that still meet their preference for sweet taste and exceptional mouthfeel,” comments Cathy Doucette, vice president of research and development at Tate & Lyle. Tate & Lyle knows this trend better than most. Originally a sugar refiner, the company divested its sugar business in 2010 and has subsequently focused on healthy, functional ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers. That includes sweeteners and fibre additives. The company says that, through selling these additives, it has been able to expunge nine million tonnes of sugar from people’s diets (equivalent to 36 million calories) over the past five years.
And its sugar reduction business continues to go from strength to strength. In December 2024, Tate & Lyle announced it was partnering with Canadian biotech BioHarvest Sciences to “develop the next generation of sweeteners” – plant- derived molecules that are sustainable, nutritious and attractively priced.
These sweeteners will be created using BioHarvest’s proprietary Botanical Synthesis platform, which is capable of growing targeted plant cells without having to grow the plant itself. Although it may sound far-flung, the idea
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BioHarvest takes the plant once, isolates the cells that produce key active ingredients, and then grows these cells in bioreactors with a view to increasing their output. While it might take two years to produce a crop the traditional way, BioHarvest can generate its ‘harvest’ within a matter of weeks. The partnership with Tate & Lyle represents a major milestone for the company, which has spent more than 15 years developing its technology. “Botanical synthesis is a technology that replicates and improves nature’s process at scale,” explains Ilan Sobel, CEO at BioHarvest. “It delivers new patentable molecules by growing plant cells which can mirror and magnify the phytonutrients contained in specific targeted plants.” For the purposes of this partnership,
Tate & Lyle will use the BioHarvest platform to develop botanical sweetening ingredients. The company says the ingredients will meet consumer desire for sugar-like flavours, without the unpleasant aftertaste that characterises many sweeteners. “Ultimately, how a food or drink tastes remains the primary purchase driver, over health or other considerations,” Doucette remarks.
Turning to nature Of course, this isn’t the first time a manufacturer has looked towards nature for new sweeteners. Just take stevia, which is derived from the leaves of an herbal shrub, or thaumatin, from the West African katemfe fruit. Just recently, German researchers announced they were developing a protein-based sweetener, 10,000 times sweeter than sugar, from the African plant Pentadiplandra brazzeana. (They will be genetically modifying the protein sequence and manufacturing it through biotechnology tools.) BioHarvest, however, is doing something novel. They will be the first to commercialise a plant-based sweetener molecule without relying on traditionally grown plants or resorting to genetic modification. “Our molecules will be different because they are produced in bioreactors that utilise a fraction of land and water compared to traditional agriculture, without the use of solvents, insecticides or fungicides,” says Sobel. “In addition, the compositions will be both novel and proprietary, given our ability to magnify specific targeted molecules in the original plant to optimise sensory performance.” The upshot is that the molecules will be cheaper and more sustainable than ingredients produced via
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