Nutrition/Health Session
Moritz Krahl, Radeberger Gruppe, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
ABSTRACT: Jenkins introduced the concept of the glycemic
index (GI) in the 1970s. In the following years diseases caused by poor
or unbalanced diets have developed into severe problems in the Western
world. The growing number of patients affected by diabetes mellitus type
II especially seems to be directly related to the amount and type of
carbohydrates consumed in the daily diet. The GI classifies
carbohydrates with regard to their individual resorption time from a
consumed food. The resulting postprandial glucose levels are compared to
those measured after consumption of a reference food, notably glucose
or white bread. The GI of glucose is set at 100, the GI of sucrose is
set at 66, and the GI of fructose is set at only 20. In this paper the
concept of the IG and the fundamentals of carbohydrate metabolism are
explained. Measured GI values for different types of beverages, both
alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are correlated with the amounts of sugar
present in these beverages. In recent years consumers and
non-governmental organizations have become increasingly aware of the
possibly negative health impact of high GI beverages. In consequence the
industry needs to focus on low calorie and low GI products as an
alternative to traditional beverages containing high GI carbohydrates.
Sweeteners and low GI carbohydrates can be used in this regard. The
advantages of different alternative sweeteners like steviol glycosides,
polyols, erythritol, isomaltulose, and trehalose are compared and
discussed. As all these sweeteners offer attributes different from
sucrose and glucose, product formulations need to be adapted. By
combining two or more different sweeteners and using their synergistic
effects, taste profiles close to sucrose sweetened beverages can be
guaranteed. In conclusion it can be stated that alternative low calorie
and low GI sweeteners offer an alternative to glucose and sucrose based
sweetening of beverages. For beverage producers it is of major
importance to focus on synergistic effects, changes in flavor expression
and stability, and differences regarding mouthfeel and consumer
acceptance during product development.
Moritz Krahl was born in
Schwetzingen, Germany. After passing the German Abitur (A levels) in
2000, he began studying brewing and beverage technology at Technische
Universität München in Weihenstephan, Germany. In 2004 he graduated with
a B.S. degree and in 2005 with a Dipl.-Ing. (graduate engineer) degree.
From 2005 to 2010 Moritz worked on his Ph.D. on “Functional Beverages
Based on Malted Cereals and Pseudocereals” at the Institute for Brewing
and Beverage Technology in Weihenstephan. From 2010 to 2011 he worked as
head engineer for plant and process optimization for MEG. In October
2011 Moritz joined the Radeberger Group with key responsibility in
product and process development for new beverages.
VIEW PRESENTATION 186
