Digestion of Stevioside, a Natural Sweetener, by Various Digestive Enzymes

In vitro digestibility of stevioside, a natural sweetener, by various digestive enzymes was investigated. Stevioside was incubated with salivary α-amylase, pancreatic α-amylase, saliva, pepsin, gastric secretion, pancreatin and intestinal brush border membrane enzymes of mice, rats, and hamsters as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition 1997, Vol.23(3), pp.177-186
Main Authors: HUTAPEA, Albert M., TOSKULKAO, Chaivat, BUDDHASUKH, Duang, WILAIRAT, Prapin, GLINSUKON, Thirayudh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
digestion
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
microflora
steviol
stevioside
sweetener
Vertebrates: digestive system
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Summary:In vitro digestibility of stevioside, a natural sweetener, by various digestive enzymes was investigated. Stevioside was incubated with salivary α-amylase, pancreatic α-amylase, saliva, pepsin, gastric secretion, pancreatin and intestinal brush border membrane enzymes of mice, rats, and hamsters as well as with intestinal microflora of mice, rats, hamsters and humans. None of these enzymes digested stevioside except the microflora of the rat and hamster cecal contents, which hydrolyzed it to steviol, and the microflora of mouse cecal content and human feces, which hydrolyzed it to both steviol and steviol-16, 17α-epoxide. Steviol-16, 17α-epoxide was then completely converted back into steviol. These results suggest that steviol might be the only metabolite produced by the intestinal microflora from various animal species and humans.
ISSN:0912-0009
1880-5086
DOI:10.3164/jcbn.23.177