Development of rebiana, a natural, non-caloric sweetener.

Rebiana is the common name for high-purity rebaudioside A, a natural non-calorie sweetener 200-300 times more potent than sucrose. It provides zero calories and has a clean, sweet taste with no significant undesirable taste characteristics. It is functional in a wide array of beverages and foods and can be blended with other non-calorie or carbohydrate sweeteners. It is stable under dry conditions, and has much better stability than aspartame or neotame in aqueous food systems. Studies undertaken for the development of a purification process and for the full characterization of the properties of rebiana are reported here.