Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Trehalose 447
Figure 13 Various sugars (10% w/w) were mixed with fresh spinach. Samples were
dried at 55°C for 16 hours, after which they were heated in a microwave at 100°C for 3
hours. Color measurements were taken after heating and reported as a-values.
in the oven. Figure 13 shows the differences in green color (a-value) compared
with a control sample where no sugar was added. In this study trehalose provided
the most beneficial effect for color preservation.
Ten grams of fish paste was mixed with 5 ml of 5% solutions of various
sugars. The prepared fish paste was boiled for 15 minutes. Percent release of
trimethylamines (a primary component of fishy odors) was measured for the various
sugar-containing preparations and a control sample (Fig. 14). A relative release
value of 100% trimethylamine was used as the control when the fish paste
was boiled in the absence of any of the sugars. In comparison, fish paste boiled
after mixing with trehalose solution released 40%, whereas the fish paste using
sucrose released approximately 110% (HBC, unpublished data, 1998). In a similar
experiment, trehalose or sorbitol was combined with fish paste at 10 and 20%
to test the release of aldehyde, ethylmercaptan, and trimethylamine (fish-related
smells) after boiling for 15 minutes. Ten percent trehalose reduced the release of
these chemicals compared with sorbitol by 3.1-, 2.9-, and 4.7-fold and in samples
containing 20% by 2.8-, 2.4-, and 5.2-fold, respectively.