Claims:We Claim:
1. A sweetener composition comprising of Stevia, lactose and flavor modifier.

2. The sweetener composition of claim 1 wherein said lactose is about 95-97 % by weight.

3. The sweetener composition of claim 1 wherein said Stevia is about 1-3% by weight.

4. The sweetener composition of claim 1 wherein said flavor modifier is thaumatin.

5. The sweetener composition of claim 1 wherein the flavor modifier is about 0.4 % by weight of Stevia in the composition.

6. The sweetener composition of claim 1 further comprise of fillers and binders.

7. The sweetener composition of claim 7, wherein the low calorie sweetener has taste masked of stevia.

8. The sweetener composition of claim 1, wherein the sweetness of composition is comparable to 7.5 % regular sugar.

9. The sweetener composition of claim 1, wherein the composition is in form of powder, granules, and tablets.

10. A Process for preparing sweetener composition comprises the mixing of comprises mixing the 95 – 97% by weight of lactose, 3 – 5 % by weight of stevia and flavor modifier is 0.4 % by weight and optionally 2 – 5 % by weight anticaking agent; passing the said mixture through the sieve to get uniform particles; mixing the said mixture in a blender to obtain the sweetener composition.

Dated this 23th day of Jan, 2017

Ramesh Kumar Verma
Agent for Applicant
Tata Chemicals Ltd.
Patent Agent No. 1770
, Description:Field of Invention
A sweetener composition and a method of making the same is disclosed. The sweetener composition and a method of making the same is new.

Background
Sugar has been the most widely used sweetener in the world, with its closest substitute being high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). While sugars are found naturally in many foods, including fruits and milk, the addition of sugars to food products adds to the total energy content of the product. Consumption of foods, beverages, and packed foods containing sweeteners has increased markedly. Upon consumption, these sweeteners have their inherent drawback on human health leading to high blood sugar, weight gain and obesity etc. Evidence suggests that reducing sugars intake, especially in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages, may help to maintain a healthy body weight and possibly reduce the risk of overweight and obesity in adults.
There is increasing demand for Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) due to increasing levels of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders and increasing demand for diet food. Thus there is need for natural sweetener with improved bitterness profile and low in calories.
Sugar alcohols are form of sweetener used in food and pharmaceutical companies. Polyols are found naturally and also produced commercially from carbohydrates. Though they are low in calories as compared to sucrose, however when consumed in excess they produce abdominal gas and discomfort (laxative effect) in some individuals.
High intensity sweeteners are used as substitute to natural sweeteners as they are several times sweeter than sucrose and less in calories. Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sucralose, neotame and advantame are commercially used artificial sweeteners. However there are several health concerns raised in various studies about high intensity sweeteners like weight gain, obesity, metabolic syndrome risk, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension etc. Also these high intensity sweeteners have bitter after taste and tend to alter the taste profile of many food products.
Therefore, to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks and to meet the consumer demands of low calorie food, without compromising on the taste profile of food products, there is need for a sweetener which is natural, twice as sweet as sugar and has reduced bitterness and does not alter the taste profile of food product.
The present invention relates to a sweetener composition which tastes same as that of sugar but has reduced calories, reduced bitterness and does not alter the taste of food products. The invention also relates to the method of producing sweetener composition.

Summary
A sweetener composition and the method of producing sweetener composition is disclosed. The sweetener composition comprises stevia, lactose and flavor modifier. Said flavor modifier is thaumatin. Said sweetener composition comprises 95 – 97% by weight of lactose, 3 – 5 % by weight of stevia and flavor modifier is 0.4 % by weight of Stevia in the composition. The said sweetener composition may further comprise of additives like filler, anti caking agents, flavours etc.
A method of producing said sweetener composition is also disclosed.

Detailed Description
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to embodiments and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the disclosed composition and method, and such further applications of the principles of the disclosure therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the disclosure and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” “an embodiment” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
The disclosure relates to a sweetener composition and the method of producing sweetener composition. Said sweetening composition comprises Stevia, lactose and flavor modifier/enhancer. Said flavor modifier is thaumatin. Said sweetener composition comprises of 95 - 97% by weight of lactose, 3 - 5 % by weight of stevia and flavor modifier is 0.4 % by weight of Stevia in the composition. The said sweetener composition may further comprise of additives like filler, anti-caking agents, flavours etc.
Each element of the sweetener composition is disclosed in detailed.
Stevia
Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana. The leaves contain ent-kaurene type of diterpenoid glycosides that are typically the characteristics of leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana bertoni. Relative to sucrose, the potent sweetness intensities of these glycosides have projected them as cost effective sucrose substitute. Stevia is 200 times sweeter than sugar in the same concentration and has no calories. Seviol glycosides are non-fermentable, stable at heat and pH. Steviosides have a negligible effect on blood glucose, which makes stevia attractive to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.
The drawback in the use of stevia is its taste. It has slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and has a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
All steviol glycosides share a common steviol backbone. The differences between the various steviol glycosides are due to the number of sugar molecules attached to the steviol core and its arrangement. Generally rebaudioside A and stevioside are the major glycosides found in stevia leaves based on dry weight, with steviosides like rebaudioside D in much lower concentrations in the plant. A combination of any the individual approved steviol glycosides can contribute to the 95% or more steviol glycoside content required to meet the JECFA specification. In fact, for the purposes of food science and great taste, steviol glycosides are increasingly used in combinations in packaged foods and beverages to achieve the ideal sweetness profile given the food matrix or beverage composition.
Stevia extracts have several unique properties such as long shelf life, high temperature tolerance, non-fermentative.
However stevia sweetener has signature bitter aftertaste. Bitterness is perceived when bitter-eliciting compounds interact with receptors within foliate and circumvallate papillae on the lateral and posterior surfaces of the tongue, respectively. Within these papillae are hundreds (in foliate) and thousands (in circumvallate) of taste buds that contain taste receptor cells (TRCs), which for bitter taste includes the seven transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family, TAS2Rs.
Various combination of compounds which can interact and compete with bitterness causing compounds of receptors on the tongue are been explored by food processing industry to reduce the perception of bitterness of steviosides.
Lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar composed of galactose and glucose that is found in milk. It is produced by condensation of galactose and glucose which form a β-1→4 glycosidic linkage. Its systematic name is β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→4)-D-glucose.
Lactose is only 16 % sweet as compared to sucrose. It is added to pills in the pharmaceutical industry and is used as an ingredient in the coating and filler of many drugs. It is used in various processed foods including dried vegetables and chocolate. It can be used in baking industry to produce a brown crust like ordinary sugar, but without the sweetness.
Thaumatin
Thaumatin is a protein which is isolated from the katemfe fruit, Thaumatococcus daniellii, also called “the miraculous fruit of the Sudan.” Katemfe is common in the West African rain forest zone. It is a protein having 4 calories per gram. Extensive disulfide cross-linking confers to thaumatin thermal stability, resistance to denaturation, and maintenance of the
tertiary structure of the polypeptide chain. Thaumatin is used to sweeten food and drinks naturally. It has been used by the West Africans for hundreds of years. Thaumatin is 2000-3000 times sweeter than sucrose (sugar) and does not contribute any calories to the diet.
Thaumatin is completely digested by man and animal, which together with its “normal” amino acid sequence, accounts for its acceptance by regulatory authorities around the world as a safe, natural substance.
Thaumatin’s high and rapid solubility in water and its tendency to increase salivation are additional physical features that increase the effect of flavours and aromas, particularly where physical contact with the taste receptors is limited.
Additives
Anti caking agent:
Silica: Anticaking agent is used to prevent formation of lumps in in confectionaries and powders. Silica is used as an anticaking additive in foods, pharmaceutical drugs, and nutritional supplements. Silica is permitted as anticaking agent in many geographies. The high porosity of silica enables it to absorb upto 3 times their own weight of many liquids. The mechanism of interparticle attachment can include moisture pick up, fusing in materials of low melting point, static charge build up, or simple agglomeration.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition comprises of Stevia, lactose and flavor modifier.
In accordance with preferred embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition comprise of 1-3 % by weight of Stevia.
In accordance with preferred embodiment of the invention, the low calorie sweetener composition comprise of 95-97 % by weight of lactose.
In accordance with preferred embodiment of the invention, the flavor modifier is thaumatin. The sweetener composition of the present invention, wherein, thaumatin comprise of 0.4 % by weight of Stevia.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the sweetening composition further comprise of additives includes filler, anti caking agents, binders, flavours etc. In accordance with preferred embodiment, the anti caking agent is silicon dioxide.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the low calorie sweetener composition is prepared by passing stevia, lactose and thaumatin through the sieve to get uniform particles.
In a preferred embodiment, the stevia, lactose and thaumatin are passed through sieve # 30. In accordance with an embodiment, Stevia and thaumatin are premixed with lactose in any known blender. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, Stevia, thaumatin and lactose is finally blended in ribbon blender for about 30-40 min to form the sweetener composition of the present invention.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the blender rotates at the speed of 50 to 300 rpm.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the seiving ranges from 20 to 40 mesh.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the low calorie sweetener composition may be in the form of powder, granules, and tablets.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition of the present invention is low calorie sweetener and has low glycemic index. In accordance with an aspect the sweetener composition has half of the calorie value compared to equal amount of sugar.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the sweetener composition has masked bitter and after taste of stevia.

Example 1: Process of making sweetener composition
30 gm of stevia, 969.8 gm of lactose and 0.25 gm of thaumatin was mixed in a vessel and passed through the 30 mesh of sieve. The sieve passed mixture is put in ribbon blender for 30 minutes at a speed of 50 rpm. The sweetener composition was obtained from the blender.
Example 2: Process of making sweetener composition
25 gm of stevia, 969.8 gm of lactose, 0.25 gm of thaumatin and 5 gm of silica was mixed in a vessel and passed through the 30 mesh of sieve. The sieve passed mixture is put in ribbon blender for 30 minutes at a speed of 50 rpm. The sweetener composition was obtained from the blender.
Example 3: Sensorial evaluation
Sensorial evaluation was conducted of the sweetener formulation obtained from example 2 using by sensorial expert panel of 10 people. People tasted the sample and rated the scored the sample on a scale of 1-10 on the basis of increasing sweetness as well as increasing liking of the sample. Panel constituted equal number of male (M) and female (F) members. Following is the scale definition:
10 – Over sweet,
9 – Extremely sweet, like extremely
8 – Likable sweet (normal sweet), like very much
7 – Moderately sweet, like moderately
6 – Sweet, like slightly
5 – Less than normal sweet, neither like nor dislike
4 – Less sweet, dislike slightly
3 – Very low sweetness, no other taste, dislike moderately
2 – Not sweet, dislike very much
1 – Not sweet and some other taste- disliked intensely- reject product
1% solution of the sweetener composition was prepared in water and was compared with 5% sugar solution prepared in water. The finding has been tabulated in table 1.
Table 1: Sensory evaluation
Sr No. Person Gender (M/F) 5% sugar solution in water (B) 1% water solution of sweetener (C) Preference
1 Person 1 F 7.5 8 C
2 Person 2 M 7 8 C
3 Person 3 F 8 9 C
4 Person 4 M 7 8 C
5 Person 5 M 7 8 C
6 Person 6 M 8 6 B
7 Person 7 M 8 9 C
8 Person 8 F 8 7.5 Both
9 Person 9 F 7 8 C
10 Person 10 F 6 9 C

The 1% sweetener composition was substantially equal in terms of sweetness with 5% of the sugar. 90% of the persons liked the sweetener composition compared to the sugar test sample.

Industrial application:
With growing concern of use of sugar has led to people to adopt the alternatives. The proposed sweetener composition is an ideal replacement of sugar. The sweetener composition can be used as table top sweetener, or can be used in various food and beverages to replace the sugar. The sweetener composition has the diabetic people.