The invention concerns a sweetened strained fermented dairy product comprising a dairy material, at least one steviol glycoside, at least one additive selected from a polysaccharide of fructose units and a salt. The product may further comprise a lactase enzyme.

Methods are described herein for making a composition comprising at least one of caffeic acid, monocaffeoylquinic acids, and dicaffeoylquinic acids, and salts thereof.

Isolated mogroside and mogrol biosynthetic pathway enzyme polypeptides useful in mogroside biosynthesis are provided. Mogroside biosynthetic pathway enzymes of the invention include squalene epoxidase (SE), epoxy hydratase (EH), cytochrome p450 (Cyp), cucurbitadienol synthase (CDS) and udp-glucosyl-transferase (UGT), Also provided are methods of producing a mogroside using the isolated mogroside and mogrol biosynthetic enzyme polypeptides, the methods comprising contacting a mogrol and/or a glycosylated mogrol (mogroside) with at least one UDP glucose glucosyl transferase (UGT) enzyme polypeptide of the invention catalyzing glucosylation of the mogrol and/or the glucosylated mogrol to produce a mogroside with an additional glucosyl moietie(s), thereby producing the mogroside. Alternatively or additionally provided is a method of synthesizing a mogrol, the method comprising contacting a mogrol precursor substrate with one or more mogrol biosynthetic pathway enzyme polypeptides as described herein catalyzing mogrol synthesis from the mogrol precursor substrate, thereby synthesizing the mogrol.

The present invention relates to a steviol glycoside having the formula of (I) ##STR00001## wherein at least 3 sugar moieties are present at positions R1 and at least three sugar moieties are present at position R2 and wherein the steviol glycoside comprises at least seven sugar moieties all of which are linked, directly or indirectly, to the steviol aglycon by β-linkages.

Methods of preparing highly purified steviol glycosides, particularly Rebaudioside D, are described. The methods include purification from the extraction stage of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant, purification of steviol glycoside mixtures, Rebaudioside D and Rebaudioside A from a commercial Stevia extract, and purification of Rebaudioside D from remaining solutions obtained after isolation and purification of Rebaudioside A and a high purity mixture of steviol glycosides. The methods are useful for producing high purity Rebaudioside D, Rebaudioside A, and steviol glycoside mixtures. The high purity steviol glycosides are useful as non-caloric sweeteners in edible and chewable compositions such as any beverages, confectioneries, bakery products, cookies, and chewing gums.

Disclosed are steviol glycosides referred to as rebaudioside V and rebaudioside W. Also disclosed are methods for producing rebaudioside M (Reb M), rebausoside G (Reb G), rebaudioside KA (Reb KA), rebaudioside V (Reb V) and rebaudioside (Reb W).

Disclosed herein are steviol glycoside compositions containing steviol glycoside blends that synergistically increase the solubility of rebaudioside D and rebaudioside M. These new compositions have a clean taste and may be used as sweeteners or sweetness enhancers in reduced sugar foods and beverages. Also disclosed herein are methods for making and using these compositions.

A steviol glycoside solubility enhancer may include a monocaffeoylquinic (MCQ) component that includes at least one compound selected from the group consisting of chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, ctyptochlorogenic acid, and salts thereof; and a dicaffeoylquinic (DCQ) component that includes at least one compound selected from the group consisting of 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and salts thereof. In one suitable implementation, the MCQ component and the DCQ component together comprise more than 50% (wt), preferably more than 60% (wt), more than 70% (wt), more than 80% (wt), more than 90% (wt), or more than 95% (wt) of the steviol glycoside solubility enhancer.

The present disclosure relates to a sweetener composition comprising a transfructosylated steviol glycoside, and a method for improving the sweetness of a steviol glycoside, comprising converting a steviol glycoside into a transfructosylated steviol glycoside.

Glucosyl stevia compositions are prepared from steviol glycosides of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. The glucosylation was performed by cyclodextrin glucanotransferase using the starch as source of glucose residues. The compositions mainly comprise glucosyl derivatives with superior taste characteristics and can be used as sweetness enhancers, flavor enhancers and sweeteners in foods, beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.