Structure, Properties, and Biomedical Activity of Natural Sweeteners Steviosides: An Update
Aoyi Wang, Huiqin Hu, Yadan Yuan, Shiran Mei, Guoxue Zhu, Qiaoyan Yue, Yanliang Zhang, S. Jiang
Abstract
Stevioside is a natural sweetener with the characteristics of low calorie and high sweetness. It comprises a diverse range of monomers that play crucial roles in numerous biological processes. Due to these attributes, it has gained widespread application in agriculture, food, and pharmaceutical industries. As a substitute for sugar, stevioside also shows good pharmacological activities on glucose metabolism, bodyweight keeping, blood pressure maintenance, and shows anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-tumor, antibacterial, and immune regulation activities. This review summarized the update on the food safety, sweet structure-activity relationship, pharmacological activity of stevia glycosides recently, and discussed the limitations of its application in food and medicine.