Tasteful natural sweetener and flavor

Abstract

The invention describes products, uses thereof, compositions thereof, and methods to prepare products formed from Maillard reaction products from a sugar donor and/or sweet tea extracts, Stevia extracts, swingle (mogroside) extracts, one or more sweet tea extract components, one or more steviol glycosides, one or more mogrosides, one or more glycosylated sweet tea glycosides, one or more glycosylated steviol glycosides or one or more glycosylated mogrosides and an amine donor/reactant.

1 . A composition, comprising:
 an added Maillard reaction product (MRP) formed from one or more reducing sugars(s) having a free carbonyl group and one or more amine donor(s) having a free amino group; and   a  Stevia  extract, a steviol glycoside(s) and/or a glycosylated steviol glycoside(s) or mixtures thereof,   wherein the MRP is added in an amount sufficient to improve a taste profile of the composition.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the reducing sugar comprises one or more of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the amine donor comprises one or more of a primary amine compound, a secondary amine compound, an amino acid, a protein, a peptide, a yeast extract or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The composition of  claim 3 , wherein the amino acid comprises alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, valine or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the steviol glycoside comprises rebaudioside A, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside I, rebaudioside M, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside O, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the glycosylated steviol glycoside comprises glycosylation products of steviol, stevioside, steviolbioside, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, rebaudioside M, rebaudioside O, rebaudioside H, rebaudioside I, rebaudioside L, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside K, rebaudioside J, rubusoside, dulcoside A or mixtures thereof 
     
     
         7 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of unreacted reducing sugar(s) and/or a portion of unreacted amine donor(s) remain in the composition. 
     
     
         8 . The composition of  claim 7 , further comprising sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame-K, neotame, erythritol, trehalose, raffinose, cellobiose, tagatose, allulose, inulin, N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-alpha-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester, glycyrrhizin, sodium cyclamate, brazzein, miraculin, curculin, pentadin, mabinlin, thaumatin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), maltol, advantame or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The composition of  claim 7 , further comprising a sweetening agent comprising sweet tea extracts, swingle extracts, one or more sweet tea glycosides, one or more mogrosides, one or more glycosylated sweet tea glycosides, one or more glycosylated mogrosides or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         10 . A method for preparing a composition, the composition comprising (1) a Maillard Reaction Product (MRP) and (2) a  Stevia  extract, a steviol glycoside(s) and/or a glycosylated steviol glycoside(s) or mixtures thereof, wherein the MRP is formed from one or more reducing sugar(s) having a free carbonyl group and one or more amine donor(s) having a free amino group, the method comprising the steps of:
 preparing a reaction mixture comprising one or more reducing sugar(s) and one or more amine donor(s) comprising a free amino group(s);   combining the reaction mixture with one or more solvents to provide a reaction solution;   heating the reaction solution under conditions suitable for Maillard reaction;   adding the  Stevia  extract, the steviol glycoside(s) and/or the glycosylated steviol glycoside(s) or mixtures thereof to the reaction solution,   wherein the  Stevia  extract, the steviol glycoside(s) and/or the glycosylated steviol glycoside(s) or mixtures thereof is added during or after the completion of Maillard reaction.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the reducing sugar comprises one or more of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the amine donor comprises one or more of a primary amine compound, a secondary amine compound, an amino acid, a protein, a peptide, a yeast extract or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the amino acid comprises alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, valine or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the steviol glycoside comprises rebaudioside A, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside I, rebaudioside M, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside O, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the glycosylated steviol glycoside comprises glycosylation products of steviol, stevioside, steviolbioside, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, rebaudioside M, rebaudioside O, rebaudioside H, rebaudioside I, rebaudioside L, rebaudioside N, rebaudioside K, rebaudioside J, rubusoside, dulcoside A or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a portion of unreacted reducing sugar(s) and/or a portion of unreacted amine donor(s) remain in the composition. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the composition further comprising sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame-K, neotame, erythritol, trehalose, raffinose, cellobiose, tagatose, allulose, inulin, N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-alpha-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester, glycyrrhizin, sodium cyclamate, brazzein, miraculin, curculin, pentadin, mabinlin, thaumatin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), maltol, advantame or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the composition further comprising a sweetening agent comprising sweet tea extracts, swingle extracts, one or more sweet tea glycosides, one or more mogrosides, one or more glycosylated sweet tea glycosides, one or more glycosylated mogrosides or mixtures thereof 
     
     
         19 .- 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . The composition of  claim 1 , further comprising a thickener selected from the group consisting of carbomers, cellulose base materials, gums, algin, agar, pectins, carrageenan, gelatin, mineral thickeners, modified mineral thickeners, polymer thickeners, polyethylene glycols, polyalcohols and polyacrylamides. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of adding a thickener during or after the completion of the Maillard reaction, wherein the thickener is selected from the group consisting of carbomers, cellulose base materials, gums, algin, agar, pectins, carrageenan, gelatin, mineral thickeners, modified mineral thickeners, polymer thickeners, polyethylene glycols, polyalcohols and polyacrylamides. 
     
     
         39 . A method of improving a taste profile of a consumable, comprising the step of adding a sufficient amount of the composition of  claim 1  to the consumable.