Characterization of a new hemihydrate rebaudioside B crystal having lower aqueous solubility

Poor aqueous solubility of some minor steviol glycosides (SGs) has prevented their potential widespread usage as non-nutritional high intensity sweeteners in beverage industry. Rebaudioside B (reb B) is one of the minor SGs found in stevia leaf, and has a better taste quality than many of the major SGs. However, reb B suffers from poor aqueous solubility and low dissolution rate, which greatly limits its application, especially in beverages. In our effort to enhance its solubility by using natural means, we discovered that under certain conditions reb B forms hemihydrate crystal, which has much lower solubility and dissolution rate than commercial powder reb B product. The crystal was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). This may offer more insight into the interaction of SGs with water at molecular level, and therefore provide new guidance on current efforts to enhance the solubility of SGs.