Stevia… the next generation
Cargill, meanwhile, is gearing up for the 2016 launch of Reb M and Reb D, two steviol glycosides in high demand because they taste better than Reb A.
As it is not commercially viable – or environmentally responsible (you’d need vast tracts of land devoted to stevia plants) - to extract Reb D or Reb M from stevia leaves, Cargill and synthetic biology pioneer Evolva are using baker’s yeast to convert corn into these more desirable glycosides via a fermentation process that begins with genetically engineered baker’s yeast.
Read our interview with Cargill on synbio stevia later this month.
Picture: Evolva