Thaumatin

Thaumatin There is no ideal sweetener and maintaining a balance in your diet is essential. Researchers, dieticians, and the general public are constantly in search of sweetening agents, due to the increasing instances of metabolic disorders.

Humans have been using sugars for a long time and so are generally safe when consumed in small quantities. However, higher consumption of sugars leads to health issues including weight gain, dental issues, high blood sugar levels, insulin resistance, obesity, and dyslipidemia, just to name a few.

However, reducing or irradicating sugar from a person’s diet may not be that simple, as humans have become addicted to sweet tastes. Culinary practices have evolved in such a way, that now many food items need to be sweetened. Therefore, there is a need to find something that can make food items sweet without the side effects of sugars. Thaumatin is one such natural and low-calorie sugar substitute or sweetener.

One way to classify sweeteners is either natural or synthetic. Some examples of artificial or synthetic sweeteners could be aspartame or saccharin. Examples of natural ones could be stevia, thaumatin, monk fruit and many more. Natural sweeteners are generally regarded as safer, but unfortunately, they are also more expensive.

Another vital benefit of using natural, non-sugar sweeteners, is that they are generally deficient in calories. Therefore, they are safer for those living with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular ailments, and other metabolic disorders. Sweeteners, however, whether synthetic or natural, are not entirely safe as there is not enough data or research yet to make this claim. Even though sweeteners have been used traditionally in some parts of the world, it is only recently that humans have started using sweeteners so extensively. Unfortunately, some sugar substitutes have been known to cause gastric issues and disturbances of microbiota with prolonged and heavy use.

Understanding Thaumatin

Thaumatin is unique in numerous ways. It is natural and derived from the fruit of a plant, that is native to West Africa, called Thaumatococcus daniellii. But that is not all, unlike other sweeteners, it is not a carbohydrate.¹

Furthermore, Researchers have found that this sweet protein is more common in nature than earlier thought as Thaumatin can also be derived from Kiwifruit. There are also thaumatin-like sweet proteins in various tropical berries, barley, maize, and even tomatoes. These findings only confirm that sweet proteins are common in nature and can be good for frequent human consumption.²

Thaumatin is one of the few, or perhaps the only widely used sweetener that is actually a protein. It is a chain of 207 amino acids which means that its molecule is much larger than a sugar molecule.¹

Generally, it is believed that Thaumatin provides an intense taste of sweetness that is much stronger than table sugar, yet it is safe and nutritious as when it is digested, it behaves just like any other protein. That means that it is sweet, and at the same time, it can be a source of vital amino acids. Proteins are building blocks of the body, and highly beneficial for health.³

Safety of Thaumatin

Fortunately, researchers have done many safety and toxicological studies and found Thaumatin to be quite safe, however, since it has not been traditionally used as a food item in various cultures, there is some scepticism regarding its widespread use. Studies show however, that like any other proteins, it is digested in the intestine, without causing any toxic effect. Studies in animals, also did not show any mutagenicity, or endocrinal toxicity.⁴

Since it is a large protein, there are some concerns that Thaumatin’s digested peptides might cause allergic reactions or elicit a specific immune response and therefore could worsen some autoimmune conditions however, safety studies did not find any such risk. Researchers found Thaumatin to be as safe as egg albumen.⁵

Properties

Diabetes / Blood Sugar²^,3

References