Developing Sugar-Free Chewing Gum With Stevia as an Aspartame Alternative

Chewing gum is a commonly used food product, and sugar-free chewing gum consumption is also frequent. Although artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, are used in food recipes to replace sugar, they can be associated with health problems. Thus, it is necessary to develop products with natural sweeteners and polyols as sugar substitutes. This study aimed to investigate the use of stevia and xylitol in the production of chewing gum. Four different recipes for chewing gums (sorbitol + aspartame, sorbitol + stevia, sorbitol + xylitol + aspartame, and sorbitol + xylitol + stevia) were created by keeping the amounts of the ingredients other than the sweeteners and polyols constant. The differences in the color, texture, and sensory properties of the chewing gum samples were evaluated. Accelerated shelf-life test (AST) was also employed to evaluate the stability of the samples during storage. The substitution of sorbitol with xylitol caused color changes (decreased L*, a*, and h° values) and decreased the hardness, springiness, and overall likeliness of the samples; however, the use of stevia did not affect the color, texture, and sensory properties of the samples compared to the aspartame-containing samples. Thus, the findings of this study suggest that stevia can be used in chewing gum production as an alternative to aspartame without causing any adverse effects on the color, texture, and sensory properties.