Getting to the Zero Calorie Sweetness

We love to know everything about sweeteners, and we know some folks are more curious than others, if you’re like us and want to know a little more about the history and science of EverSweet™ stevia sweetener, this page is for you.

For thousands of years, humans have carefully selected baker’s and brewer’s yeast types that work best to produce alcohol, aromas and flavors. More recently, scientists have learned how biotechnology can utilize fermentation to produce other important products, including vitamins and life-saving medicines.¹

What is specially crafted yeast?

For nearly four decades, scientists have been introducing different genes into yeast.²  Cargill used this same proven approach to develop our yeast which produces sweet steviol glycosides.

First, our team determined the specific enzymes the plant used to create the sweetest steviol glycosides called Reb M and Reb D.

Once our scientists understood which enzymes the stevia plant used to make steviol glycosides, they looked for genes that control the production of those enzymes that work best in yeast. The genes used include genes from the stevia plant and other plants, such as lettuce, tomato, blackberry and rice. The genes perform the same function as the genes in the stevia plant, but more efficiently. This enables our yeast to become a mini-factory, converting simple sugar into Reb M and Reb D far more efficiently and in much greater quantity than a stevia plant.

Once our yeast completes its steviol glycoside production, the mixture is heated, inactivating the yeast cells. At that point, the yeast is removed through a filtering process similar to the carbon filters you might find in a water purification system.

In the end, all that remains are the very sweetest steviol glycosides, identical to those produced in such tiny quantities by stevia plants.

¹Sources: about.com and about.com

²Source: Journal of the Royal Society