Over the last decade there has been a growing interest in low-calorie alternatives to carbohydrate-based sweeteners. Recent publications have shown a dramatic increase in attention toward natural extracts such as the Stevia rebaudiana plant, not only for its sweetening effect but also for additional health benefits attributed to the plant. The major sweetening components are stevioside, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside C, and dulcoside A, each of which is over 300 times sweeter than sucrosebased sweeteners. Because of this they are widely used in beverages and foodstuffs.
A high-throughput application has been developed for the analysis of steviol-based sweeteners.
This application demonstrates the following:
- Small changes in mobile phase composition can have significant effect on retention.
- Adequate mixing of mobile phase is required to improve retention stability and control baseline noise.
- Increased method throughput has been achieved with a significant reduction in cost per sample, when compared to legacy applications.