Thermal and rheological study of artificial and natural powder tabletop sweeteners

Tabletop sweeteners play an essential role in calorie-restricted and low-sugar diets. Thus, this work aims to characterize by thermal analysis, SEM, and rheology, powder tabletop sweeteners samples based on the most currently consumed: aspartame (A1), saccharin (C1), sucralose (U1), stevia extract (E2) and monk fruit extract (M1). Their physicochemical properties were compared regarding thermal stability, morphology, and viscoelastic behavior. Samples based on artificial sweeteners started to lose mass from 65 °C. On the other hand, natural sweeteners showed greater thermal stability with an initial decomposition temperature of 170 °C. The DSC curves of A1 and C1 samples exhibited similar thermal profiles showing dextrose melting at 150 °C. Both DSC analyses of samples based on natural sweeteners revealed T_m erythritol (121 °C) followed by its decomposition (288 °C). In rheological analysis, except for the U1 sample, all the others presented a slight increase in the storage modulus at 10 and 25 °C, indicating that their granules were not wholly deformed. This aspect could influence the aftertaste of the products in which they will be used.