DIFFERENT SWEETENERS IN BEVERAGES PREPARED WITH INSTANT AND ROASTED GROUND COFFEE: IDEAL AND EQUIVALENT SWEETNESS

ABSTRACT Nowadays, people are increasingly concerned about their health and appearance, and have sought feeding alternatives to the main problems that affect world population, such as obesity and diabetes, that share a close relation with high sucrose consumption. This study determined the ideal sweetness in beverages prepared with instant coffee and roasted ground coffee, using a “just about right” scale, and the equivalent sweetness of samples sweetened with sucralose, stevia, aspartame, cyclamate/saccharin (2:1), acesulfame K, by using the Magnitude Estimation. Sucrose concentration considered ideal by consumers for instant coffee beverages was 9.5%, with sweetener concentrations equivalent to 0.01494% for sucralose; 0.09448% for stevia; 0.05064% for aspartame; 0.04967% for acesulfame K; and 0.0339% for a cyclamate/saccharin (2:1) blend. Sucrose concentration considered ideal by consumers for roasted ground coffee beverages was 12.5%, with sweetener concentrations equivalent to 0.0209% for sucralose; 0.0166% for stevia; 0.0724% for aspartame; 0.0640% for acesulfame K; 0.0582% for cyclamate/saccharin (2:1) blend. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This study may serve as a guide for the food industry that aims at producing drinks or powders (instant coffee or roasted ground coffee) with the addition of sweeteners to replace sucrose, or to educate consumers about the amount of sweetener that can be added to these drinks for obtaining the ideal sweetness in relation to sucrose. This information is only possible to be obtained with the application of a sensory technique analysis, because sweeteners behavior is specific for each product type.