I.

Hoang-Kim (Kimmy) Nguyen

Carbohydrates Lab
September 16th, 2016
This lab was conducted BH 407 with normal to warm lab conditions due to
the ovens being on. For the artificial sweeteners portion my lab partners were
Christina Pascual and Patricia Quach. For the cookie portion of the lab my
partners Christina Pascual, Patricia Quach, Natalie Pluth, and Alissa Orcutt.
II. Purpose:
A) The purpose of the artificial sweeteners lab is to compare different sensory
characteristics of artificial sweeteners such as appearance, texture, taste, and
intensity.
B) The purpose of the cookie lab to determine differences that different sugars
have when baking chocolate chip cookies, including appearance, texture,
aroma, taste, and mouthfeel.
C) The purpose of the miraculin tablet lab is to see the effects of the tablet
when it comes to taste of foods (I.e. turning them sour into sweet).
III. Experimental Procedures:
A) During the artificial sweeteners lab, we sprinkled small amounts of
sweetener onto a piece of strawberry and apple then evaluated and recorded
appearance, flavor, texture and intensity.
B) During the cookie lab, our group followed a standardized chocolate chip
cookie recipe with the use of white granulated cane sugar and compared them
to other types of sugars such as brown sugar, powdered sugar, Splenda, and
molasses.
C) During the miraculin tablet lab, we ingested a miraculin tablet until
dissolved and tasted a lime, strawberries, and apples to evaluate differences
between before and after the Miraculin tablet was digested.

IV. Results

Table 1: Artificial Sweeteners Lab

Table A-1 Evaluation of Nonnutritive Sweeteners
Product
Appearance
Flavor

Texture
Granulated

Intensity
(descending
designation
Sweetest (1)

Aspartame
Equal

Bigger sugar
Very sweet
particles; a little
darker in color;
not as bright

Sucralose
Splenda

Very white

Not as sweet;
Granulated
weird chemicallike after taste

Moderate
sweetness (2)

Saccharin
Sweet n Low

Smaller sugar
particles

Finer granules

Mild sweetness
covered by
bitter taste (4)

Stevia
Truvia

Same physical
appearance as
Splenda

Caused
astringency
reaction; bitter;
medicine-like;
chemical-like
More bitter
taste initially
than sweet n
low; better
sweet after
taste

Bigger
granules

Sweet after
taste (3)

Table 2: Cookie Lab

Sensory Evaluation of Cookie
Before Sampling
Product
Appearance
Texture
Brown
Caramel in
A little
Sugar
color with
rough on the
pretty even
outside but
edges;
not crumbly,
moderately
it takes a bit
raised
of pressure
to break
apart
because the
end product
is pliable,
moist on the

Odor
Smells
sweet,
smells like
chocolate

After Sampling
Taste
Mouthfeel
Like a
Crispy edge
classic
and chewy
chocolate
middle,
chip cookie; chocolate is
sweet;
melted
chocolatey

Molasses

Dark color;
flat; smooth;
circular; have
more even
edges

Granulated
Sugar

Very pale in
color, golden
bottom/edges,
has a light
sheen on it;
uniform

Splenda

Came out
puffy and
circular;
cracks visible
on top; dense
looking on the
inside
Came out
bigger and
very raised;
irregular on
top; pale in
color; brown
edges; looks
dense on the
inside

Powdered

inside
Smooth
exterior;
tough; more
resistance;
sticky ; hard
edges;
elastic
interior

Smells like
burnt sugar;
cant smell
the
chocolate;
smells
sweet but
not in a
good way
Breaks off
Has a
quickly with fainter smell
a few
than the first
crumbles;
cookie;
more of a
lighter
granulated
sweet smell
feel; nonpliable
Feels like a Very weak
bread;
odor with
grainy
no
texture
chocolate
chip smell

Has a very
strong
molasses
flavor; bitter
with the
chocolate
bit

Chewy;
moist; with
a tough
texture/bite;
takes more
pressure to
break
down

Milder
flavor;
chocolate
chip flavor
comes out
stronger

Crispy;
doesnt
break down
as easily as
the others

Light
sweetness;
little bit of a
creamy
taste

Very
crumbly;
soft

Tough;
clean break;
takes
pressure

Creamy
taste; taste
kind of like
bread

Crumbles
easily;
bread-like

Weak sweet
odor

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

The miraculin tablet turned a usually sour lime, into a sweet flavor lime. The lime flavor
reminded me of a sweet key lime pie.
V.
Discussion
A) There are four different non-nutritive sweeteners that was discussed in lab.
Aspartame (Equal) is 200x sweeter than cane sugar, contains aspartic acid and
phenylalanine, and can be safely consumed by diabetics and pregnant women.
Though theres many benefits, some cons may be that aspartame is not heat
stable so cannot be baked and cannot be consumed for people with
phenylketonuria, a protein metabolic disease. Sucralose (Splenda) is 600-800x
sweeter than sugar due to its chemical altering; Three hydroxyl atoms in
sucrose is replaces by chloride. This byproduct of sucrose is heat stable and
can be consumed by the general masses. Sacchrin (Sweet n Low) can also be
consumed by the general population, but has a more unappealing taste. Sweet
n Low was by the far the most bitter and most chemically manufactory
tasting, having an astringent factor. Stevia (Truvia) is half as sweet as sugar
and is extracted from the Stevia Rebaudiana leaves; it is also related to sugar
alcohols. Though the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics take a stand of
approval on consumption of artificial sweeteners for the general population,
according to Figure 2, taken by the article Artificial sweeteners and their
health effects, long term effects of artificial sweeteners can cause cancer
while short term effects are headaches, nausea, and diarrhea.
B) In the cookie lab, different sugars had different effects on the standardized
recipe of chocolate chip cookies as shown on Table 2. The white sugar is more
refined, hence having less stickiness and no molasses. This affects the
Maillard Reaction of the cookie, producing a whiter appearance. The brown
sugar cookie contains molasses, which therefor holds in more moisture. This
created not only a moister, chewier product, but helped with the Maillard
Reaction; The brown sugar cookie had the best browning affect. The flavor of
both cookies were very similar, but because of the Maillard Reaction the
brown sugar cookie had a little more intensity. My ideal cookie would have
crispy edges like the white sugar cookie, but a soft chewiness of the brown

sugar cookie; The next experimentation that would happen is to find the
perfect ratio between white and brown sugar to create the ideal cookie.
C) Miraculin is not currently commercially available in the U.S. due to lack of
FDA approval. In the early 1970s, Miraculin was going to hit U.S. markets,
but was debunked when the company, Miralin, was sabotaged by the FDA
calling Miraculin a food additive. Being considered a food additive requires
lots of research and money to be approved by the FDA. According to Emery,
Vice President of Miralin, the FDA was swayed in disapproval of Miraculin
because of the competition of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame
companies. Miraculin would be ideal for people who have a tendency to eat
sweet foods, but have insulin deficiencies such as diabetes.
VI. References
Cruz, R. (2016) Lecture conducted at San Francisco State University on nonnutritive
sweeteners and Miraculin. San Francisco, CA.
Fitch, C., PhD, RD, & Keim, K. S., PhD, RD, LDN. (2012, May). Position of the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Use of Nutritive and Nonnutritive
Sweeteners. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112 (5), 739758. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
Maillard: The Most Delicious Chemical Reaction in the World. (2016). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs1JLYXROVU
Nisa. A. U., Zahra, N., Hina, S. Kalim, I., Saeed, M. K., &Safdar, A. (2016). Artificial
sweeteners and their health effects. Pakistan Journal of Food Sciences, 26(3),
137-142. Retrieved from https://www-cabdirectorg.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/cabdirect/FullTextPDF/2016/20163310249.pdf
Zimmerman, J. The Miracle Sugar Substitute The FDA Won't Let You Have. (2015,
September 24). Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 23 September 2016, from
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-miracle-sugar-substitute-the-fdawont-let-you-have