THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL

Comparing the Sweetness of Sugar & Sugar Substitutes

Experiment No.1

INTRODUCTION

A trip to the bakery can be magical. Picture it: counters filled with every kind of sweet treat you
can imagine, and something for everyone. Cakes, cookies, pastries, cupcakes, and a variety of
sugary food wherever you look. We may not all like the same kind of baked treat, but one thing
we all agree on is that baked treats should be sweet. Usually, sugar is used to lend sweetness to
foods. But would cake taste just as good if the baker used a sugar substitute instead of sugar?
Many people prefer not to use sugar, often due to health reasons, and instead depend on sugar
substitutes to sweeten their foods (see examples of sugar and other sweeteners in Figure 1
below). But are sugar substitutes the same as sugar? And what exactly are the differences
between sugar and sugar substitutes?

Figure 1. This image shows, from left to right, sugar, sucralose (Splenda®), and erythritol. Can you tell the
difference? Can you taste the difference?

Sugar, also known as sucrose, comes from plants like sugar cane and sugar beets and is
a carbohydrate. Sugar adds flavor and bulk to cakes, cookies, and all kinds of treats. Sugar also
causes browning and caramelizing in foods when it is heated, as when cookies turn golden
brown in the oven. Sugar is a natural substance, something that our bodies can use for energy.

Sugar substitutes come in three categories: artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and natural
sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are synthetic (meaning created by humans); these sugar
substitutes may be derived from naturally occurring substances like herbs and sugar itself.
Artificial sweeteners are attractive because they add almost no calories to foods and are
sometimes a part of weight-loss programs. Also, they do not increase blood sugar levels, which
means that diabetics can use them. An example of an artificial sweetener is sucralose, which is
derived from sugar. (Splenda® is a commercial product that uses sucralose as one of the
ingredients.) Many artificial sweeteners, like sucralose, were discovered by accident in the
laboratory. In 1976, a scientist in England was studying different compounds made from sugar.
The scientist asked a student to test the compounds, but instead the student tasted them!

Another category of sugar substitutes is sugar alcohols. But don't be confused. Sugar alcohols are
not like alcoholic beverages. They do not contain ethanol, which is found in alcoholic
beverages. Sugar alcohols, like sugar, have calories and energy, but not as much as sugar. Sugar
alcohols, like artificial sweeteners, do not contribute to tooth decay and affect blood sugar levels
slowly, so diabetics can use them. Although sugar alcohols like xylitol, sorbitol, and erythritol,
are manufactured products, the sources are often natural. For example, xylitol is made from
corncobs and birchwood waste. Sugar alcohols are used to sweeten processed foods, chewing
gums, candies, frozen desserts, and baked goods, rather than in home cooking.

The last category of sugar substitutes is called natural substitutes. This category includes maple
syrup, agave nectar, and honey. These substances are absorbed by our digestive system and
contain calories and nutrients that our bodies can use.

How sweet are sugar substitutes compared to sugar? If you wanted to substitute one for sugar in
a recipe, should you use the same amount? Do recipes have to be modified to use sugar
substitutes like sucralose (or Splenda®) or honey? This food science project will help you start
answering some of these questions. You will test a group of volunteers to determine the taste
threshold for sweetness for various sweeteners. You will start with a 10% solution (by weight),
and use the process of serial dilution to make a series of solutions, each diluted ten times more
than the preceding one with distilled water (10%, 1%, 0.1%, and 0.01%). At what dilution will
testers be able to detect a change in taste? The earlier you can detect a "taste" in the dilution
series, the "sweeter" the substance is. Is one of the substitutes sweeter than the others?

OBJECTIVES

To determine how the sweetness of sugar substitutes compares to the sweetness of sugar.

MATERIALS

 Plastic cups, clear, 12-ounce, disposable (30)

 Permanent marker
 Graduated cylinder, 100 milliliters (mL). Available online from Amazon.com.
 Graduated cylinder, 10 mL. Available online from Amazon.com.
 Paper, 8½ x 11 inches (3 sheets). Cut each sheet into four equivalent pieces, each 4¼ x
5½ inches, for a total of 12 pieces
 Digital kitchen scale. You can purchase a digital scale online from Amazon.com.
 Wood or plastic stirring sticks (20)
 Distilled water (1 gallon)
  Sugar (10 grams [g])
 Sugar substitutes; the Experimental Procedure uses one artificial sweetener, one sugar
alcohol, and one natural sweetener, but you can make other choices. To follow the
Experimental Procedure exactly, you will need:
o Splenda® (10 g)
o Erythritol (10 g). You can purchase erythritol online from Amazon.com or at
some grocery stores.
o Honey (10 mL)
 Note: If you plan to conduct taste tests over more than one day, you will
need more sugar and the sugar substitutes than listed here.
 Microwave and microwave safe container for heating up water
 Cotton swabs (package of 300). You can find cotton swabs at a pharmacy.
 Volunteers (10)
 Paper towels (1 roll)
 Lab notebook

PROCEDURE

Mixing the Sweetener Solutions

1. In this science project you will make 10%, 1%, 0.1%, and 0.01% solutions from sugar
and each of the sugar substitutes. You will use the solutions to find out the threshold of
taste (sweetness) for each substance.
a. When you taste-test the solutions, you will be looking for a change in taste and
not necessarily a change in sweetness.
2. Label four plastic cups according to the solutions you will put in them. Label the first cup
"Sugar 10%," the second cup "Sugar 1%," the third cup "Sugar 0.1%," and the fourth cup
"Sugar 0.01%."
3. Measure 90 mL of distilled water into the 100 mL graduated cylinder, and pour it into the
cup labeled "Sugar 10%."
a. Place one of the pieces of paper on the digital scale, zero the scale, and weigh 10
g of sugar. Carefully pick up the paper and pour the sugar into the cup labeled
"Sugar, 10%."
b. Use a stirring stick to stir the solution until the sugar is completely dissolved and
you can no longer see any sugar granules in the bottom of the cup.
c. This gives you a 10% by weight (weight/weight, or w/w) sugar solution.
4. Make the 1% sugar solution. Measure 90 mL of distilled water into the 100 mL cylinder
and pour it into the cup labeled "Sugar 1%."
a. Use the 10 mL graduated cylinder to carefully measure 10 mL of the 10% sugar
solution. Pour the 10 mL of 10% sugar solution into the cup labeled "Sugar 1%"
and stir the solution with a new stirring stick until the two liquids are completely
mixed, about 1 minute.
b. This gives you a 1% w/w solution.
 c. Thoroughly clean and dry the 10 mL graduated cylinder. Cleaning the graduated
cylinder (and using new stirring sticks every time) will prevent cross-
contamination between the solutions.
5. Now make the 0.1% sugar solution. Measure 90 mL of distilled water in the 100 mL
cylinder and pour it into the cup labeled "Sugar 0.1%."
a. Use the 10 mL graduated cylinder to carefully measure 10 mL of the 1% sugar
solution. Pour the 10 mL of 1% sugar solution into the cup labeled "Sugar 0.1%"
and stir the solution with a new stirring stick until the two liquids are completely
mixed.
b. The result is a 0.1% w/w solution.
c. Thoroughly clean and dry the 10 mL graduated cylinder.
6. Finally, make the 0.01% sugar solution. Measure 90 mL of distilled water in the 100 mL
cylinder and pour it into the cup labeled "Sugar 0.01%."
a. Carefully measure 10 mL of the 0.1% sugar solution in the 10 mL graduated
cylinder. Pour the 10 mL of 0.1% sugar solution into the cup labeled "Sugar
0.01%" and stir the solution with a new stirring stick until the two liquids are
completely mixed.
b. The result is a 0.01% w/w solution.
c. Thoroughly clean and dry the 10 mL graduated cylinder.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 using Splenda® and erythritol. Make sure to label the cups properly (for
example, "Splenda® 10%," "Splenda® 1%," and so on; "Erythritol 10%", "Erythritol
1%", etc.), with the dilution and the substance you are mixing into the water.
8. Now you will make serial dilutions using honey. However, honey is a liquid, so the
procedure to make the 10% solution is slightly different, because you will measure in
milliliters and not in grams. You will also need to warm the water slightly in order to
easily dissolve the honey.
9. First, label four plastic cups. Label the first cup "Honey 10%," the second "Honey 1%,"
the third "Honey 0.1%," and the fourth "Honey 0.01%."
10. Measure 90 mL of warmed (microwaving a cup of water for 30 seconds will be enough to
warm the water) distilled water in the 100 mL graduated cylinder and pour it into the cup
marked "Honey 10%."
11. Measure 10 mL of honey in the 10 mL graduated cylinder. Pour the honey into the cup
labeled "Honey 10%" and stir the solution with a new stirring stick until the two liquids
(warm water and honey) are completely mixed and the solution is a uniform light brown
color.
a. The result is a 10% by volume (volume/volume, or v/v) honey solution.
b. Thoroughly clean and dry the 10 mL graduated cylinder.
12. Now follow steps 4-6 to make up the rest of the honey solutions. Carefully prepare the
solutions in properly marked plastic cups. Remember to use a new stirring stick each time
you stir a solution and thoroughly clean the 10 mL graduated cylinder between solutions
to prevent cross-contamination.
Testing the Solutions

1. Find a place at school or at home where you can do your testing. The location must have
water (a faucet or fountain) and a sink.
2. Gather ten volunteers. Make sure that each volunteer has written permission from a
parent or guardian (if they are younger than 18 years old) to participate in the test.
a. Remember, if you need to conduct your taste tests over more than one day, you
will need to make new solutions each time you conduct tests.
3. Prepare tables in your lab notebook, like the one shown below, to record your data. Make
a table for each of your volunteers. For 10 volunteers, you will have 10 data tables.

Substance 10% solution 1% solution 0.1% solution 0.01% solution

Sugar        

Splenda®
       
(sucralose)

Erythritol        

Honey        

Table 1. Collect a volunteer's taste-threshold data in this table.

4. Each volunteer should rinse his or her mouth out with plain tap water and then gently dry
his or her tongue with a paper towel.
5. Fill a plastic cup with distilled water.
6. Dip a clean cotton swab into the distilled water and smear it all over the first volunteer's
tongue. This gives the volunteer a baseline for comparing the different solutions.
7. Dip another clean cotton swab into the 0.01% sugar solution and smear it all over the
volunteer's tongue. Ask the volunteer if he or she can detect a change in taste compared
with the distilled water. Make sure to tell the volunteer there is no right or wrong
answer, and that each person tastes differently. If the volunteer can detect a change in
taste, then write "yes" in the data table in the 0.01% solution box for sugar. If the
volunteer cannot detect a change, then write "no" in that box.
a. Reassuring the volunteers that their answers cannot be wrong will help you get
their most accurate answer, instead of the answer they think you are looking for.
b. Remember, you are asking for a change in taste. The change does not have to be
in terms of sweetness.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the 0.1%, 1%, and 10% sugar solutions. Be sure to test the
solutions in that order, for least concentrated to most concentrated. Volunteers should
rinse their mouths out with tap water and gently dry their tongues with a paper towel in
between tasting after tasting each solution.
 9. Repeat steps 6-8 with each volunteer until all volunteers have tested the sugar solution.
Follow the same steps for the Splenda®, erythritol, and honey solutions. Remember to
record your volunteers' "yes" or "no" taste responses in your data table.

Analyzing the Data

1. Review the data that you collected from your volunteers.

2. For each combination of sugar, sugar substitute, and dilution percentage, count the
number of volunteers who detected a change in taste. Record this data in a table like the
one shown below.

Substance & Dilution Number of People Who Detected a Change

Sugar 0.01%  

Sugar 0.1%  

Sugar 1%  

Sugar 10%  

Table 2. Use a table like this to tally the total number of volunteers who detected a change for
sugar and/or sugar substitutes. The rows for sugar at all the tested dilutions are shown here as an
example; you will need additional rows for the sugar substitutes you tested.

3. Plot the data from Table 2 on a bar chart. Label the x-axis Dilution Percentage, and the
y-axis Count of Volunteers Who Tasted a Difference. This kind of plot is called
a histogram.
a. Plot all of the data for each substance (sugar, Splenda®, etc.) on one chart to
make comparisons easier.
b. You can make your own plot by hand on graph paper.
c. If you would like more information on plotting or would like to make your plot
online, check out this website: Create A Graph.
4. Let us assume that the detection threshold (when the volunteer notices a change in taste)
and sweetness go hand-in-hand. So, the earlier a change in taste is detected, the sweeter
the substance. Based on your data and plots, which substance did the volunteers find
sweetest? At what dilution percentage did most people notice a change? How does this
match your background research?

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

 What are other examples of artificial sweeteners?

 Which category does the sweetener neotame fall into?
 How is the sugar alcohol erythritol manufactured? What are its sources?
  What are some products that contain artificial sweeteners? Why do these products not use
sugar?

REPORT SHEET

REPORT SHEET Score:

Last Name Given Name MI

Course/Year Date Performed Date Submitted

Laboratory class Schedule Laboratory Instructor/Professor

A. Solubility

Substance Observation
Conclusion

Sugar

Splenda®
(sucralose)

Erythritol

Discussion

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REFERENCES

 Mayo Clinic: Nutrition and Healthy Eating . (2010, October 9). Artificial sweeteners:
Understanding these and other sugar substitutes. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
 Selim, J. (2005, August 6). The chemistry of ... artificial sweeteners. Discover Magazine.
Retrieved April 25, 2012.
 Yale-New Haven Hospital Nutrition Advisor. (n.d.). Eat any sugar alcohol lately?.
Retrieved April 25, 2012.
 Tsai, M. (2007, May 14). How sweet it is?: Measuring the intensity of sugar
substitutes. Slate. Retrieved April 25, 2012.