Suger-reduced cookies containing Taura’s JusFruit pieces are perceived to be just as sweet as full-sugar alternatives, research has found. In a consumer sensory panel, sugar-reduced cookies containing the concentrated fruit pieces were not perceived to be less sweet than a full sugar alternative, even though they contained 30 % less sugar. Furthermore, they outscored both full-sugar and standard sugar-reduced options on overall taste, and came closest to optimum sweetness.

Taura’s JusFruit pieces are made with the company’s unique Ultra-Rapid Concentration (URC) technology, which concentrates the natural sweetness of fruit. Including them in sugar-reduced recipes creates “sweet spots” which increase the overall perception of sweetness.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Els Vandenberghe, Product Development Technologist at Taura Natural Ingredients said: “The big challenge for manufacturers of sweet bakery products is to develop recipes that offer lower free sugar intake without compromising on taste. Our JusFruit pieces offer the ideal solution. This research demonstrates that the sweet spots they provide can compensate for loss of flavour and sweetness in sugar-reduced cookies. Not only were the cookies with our pieces perceived as just as sweet as the full-sugar version, they were also liked more.”