Ocean Spray has partnered with Amai Proteins to roll out a cranberry juice that features roughly 40 percent less sugar. It uses a “hyper-sweet” designer protein that is marketed as “thousands of times sweeter than sugar.”

Amai Proteins designed this protein to maintain stability in extreme environments. They are positioned with thermal and acid stability for better shelf life and an appealing taste.

Ocean Spray pegs the new partnership as a “significant milestone” for the beverage industry. Meeting sugar reduction targets while maintaining flavor is a key challenge among formulators.

Currently, thaumatin is the only globally-used “sweet protein” found in a wide variety of food products. However, Amai Proteins highlights that the usage of this protein is hampered by its high price, lack of supply, imperfect taste-profile and lack of sufficient shelf-life and stability in some applications.

“We will continue to develop options that showcase the incredible health benefits of the cranberry while highlighting our commitment to health and wellness,” says Katy Latimer, VP of research and development at Ocean Spray.

Brewed for sweetness
To manufacture its sugar-reducing protein, Amai Proteins conducts an Agile-Integrative Computational Protein Design (AI-CPD) using a cloud-computing-based software, which designs proteins that are 70 to 100 percent identical to sweet proteins found in nature.

Every protein is composed of a sequence of twenty amino acids. AI-CPD examines this protein amino acid “necklace” to naturally create a new sequence of amino acids that is highly similar to the original protein, while conferring beneficial properties.

The resulting non-GMO protein is inspired by sweet proteins naturally produced by exotic fruits found along the equatorial belt. Amai Proteins’ sweetening solution is a 100 percent protein produced by environmentally-friendly production methods in a brewery using yeast or other microorganisms.

Naturally sweetened with fermentation
When consumed, sweet proteins bind to people’s sweet receptors like sugar, triggering the sensation of sweetness. They are digested by the upper gastrointestinal tract, just like proteins, which are consumed in large amounts daily.

Amai Proteins’ novel non-GMO ingredients are backed by positionings including “zero calories, zero glycemic index, tasty, cheaper than sugar (in sweetness units), widely food-compatible and scalable.”

Many ingredients today are produced by regulatory-approved yeast. Underscoring the burgeoning potential of fermentation food-tech, flavor house Symrise recently highlighted a sweet shift in fermentation in the upcoming years.

In a recent interview, Pieter Spanjers, the newly appointed CEO of SVZ, spoke to FoodIngredientsFirst about how the fruit- and vegetable-based ingredients supplier is powering sweet as well as savory applications with flavorful fermented plant bases.

Additions to the sugar reduction toolbox
The growing need for sugar reduction sees renewed interest from formulators seeking new approaches to averting sugar taxes, making products taste good while keeping sweetness profiles low.

Sugar reduction ties into Innova Market Insights’ sixth Top Trend for 2020, “Macronutrient Makeover,” which shows no signs of abating.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, key suppliers have previously highlighted how the segment is branching out beyond stevia, with new launches of “label-friendly” wheat starch- and barley malt-based solutions.