Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Standard

Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project. / Suckling, John; Morse, S; Murphy, R; Astley, S; Halford, J C G; Harrold, J A; Le-Bail, A; Koukouna, E; Musinovic, H; Perret, J; Raben, Anne; Roe, M; Scholten, J; Scott, C; Stamatis, C; Westbroek, C.

In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2023, p. 221-233.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Suckling, J, Morse, S, Murphy, R, Astley, S, Halford, JCG, Harrold, JA, Le-Bail, A, Koukouna, E, Musinovic, H, Perret, J, Raben, A, Roe, M, Scholten, J, Scott, C, Stamatis, C & Westbroek, C 2023, 'Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project', International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

APA

Suckling, J., Morse, S., Murphy, R., Astley, S., Halford, J. C. G., Harrold, J. A., Le-Bail, A., Koukouna, E., Musinovic, H., Perret, J., Raben, A., Roe, M., Scholten, J., Scott, C., Stamatis, C., & Westbroek, C. (2023). Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 28(3), 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

Vancouver

Suckling J, Morse S, Murphy R, Astley S, Halford JCG, Harrold JA et al. Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2023;28(3):221-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

Author

Suckling, John ; Morse, S ; Murphy, R ; Astley, S ; Halford, J C G ; Harrold, J A ; Le-Bail, A ; Koukouna, E ; Musinovic, H ; Perret, J ; Raben, Anne ; Roe, M ; Scholten, J ; Scott, C ; Stamatis, C ; Westbroek, C. / Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project. In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2023 ; Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 221-233.

Bibtex

@article{1addba84694e41d19913438c0a06a86f,
title = "Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project",
abstract = "Purpose: There is an increasing interest in the use of non-nutritive sweeteners to replace added sugar in food and beverage products for reasons of improving consumer health. Much work has been done to understand safety of sweeteners, but very little on sustainability. To address that gap, this study presents the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of production of rebaudioside A 60%, 95% pure (RA60) steviol glycoside mix from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe.Methods: An attributional cradle-to-factory-gate life cycle assessment was conducted on growing of stevia leaves and extraction of steviol glycosides in Europe. Primary data were used from a case study supply chain. Results are reported in impact categories from the ReCiPe 2016 (H) method, with focus given to global warming potential, freshwater eutrophication, water consumption, and land use. Impacts are expressed both in terms of production mass and sweetness equivalence, a common metric for understanding high intensity sweetener potency. Sweetness equivalence of RA60 is typically 200 to 300 times that of sugar. Comparison of environmental impact is made to sugar (sucrose) produced from both cane and beets. The research is part of the EU project SWEET (sweeteners and sweetness enhancers: impact on health, obesity, safety, and sustainability).Results and discussion: Global warming potential for production of RA60 was found to be 20.25 kgCO2-eq/kgRA60 on a mass basis and 0.081 kgCO2-eq/kgSE on a sweetness equivalence basis. Field production of stevia leaves was found to be the main source of impact for most impact categories, and for all four focus categories. Extraction of the RA60 was the main source of impact for the others. Leaf processing and seedling propagation were minor contributors to life cycle impact. Removal of international transport from the supply chain reduced global warming potential by 18.8%. Compared with sugar on a sweetness equivalence basis, RA60 has approximately 5.7% to 10.2% the impact for global warming potential, 5.6% to 7.2% the impact for land use, and is lower across most other impact categories.Conclusion: This is the first LCA of steviol glycoside mix RA60 produced from leaf in Europe. The results indicate that RA60 can be used to reduce environmental impact of providing a sweet taste by replacing sugar across all impact categories. However, it is important to note that specific formulations in which RA60 is used will have a bearing on the final environmental impact of any food or beverage products. For solid foods, this requires further research.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9.",
keywords = "Faculty of Science, Life cycle assessment, High intensity sweeteners, Stevia, Steviol glycosides, Stevia rebaudiana",
author = "John Suckling and S Morse and R Murphy and S Astley and Halford, {J C G} and Harrold, {J A} and A Le-Bail and E Koukouna and H Musinovic and J Perret and Anne Raben and M Roe and J Scholten and C Scott and C Stamatis and C Westbroek",
note = "{\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2023.",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9",
language = "English",
volume = "28",
pages = "221--233",
journal = "International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment",
issn = "0948-3349",
publisher = "Springer",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project

AU - Suckling, John

AU - Morse, S

AU - Murphy, R

AU - Astley, S

AU - Halford, J C G

AU - Harrold, J A

AU - Le-Bail, A

AU - Koukouna, E

AU - Musinovic, H

AU - Perret, J

AU - Raben, Anne

AU - Roe, M

AU - Scholten, J

AU - Scott, C

AU - Stamatis, C

AU - Westbroek, C

N1 - © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Purpose: There is an increasing interest in the use of non-nutritive sweeteners to replace added sugar in food and beverage products for reasons of improving consumer health. Much work has been done to understand safety of sweeteners, but very little on sustainability. To address that gap, this study presents the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of production of rebaudioside A 60%, 95% pure (RA60) steviol glycoside mix from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe.Methods: An attributional cradle-to-factory-gate life cycle assessment was conducted on growing of stevia leaves and extraction of steviol glycosides in Europe. Primary data were used from a case study supply chain. Results are reported in impact categories from the ReCiPe 2016 (H) method, with focus given to global warming potential, freshwater eutrophication, water consumption, and land use. Impacts are expressed both in terms of production mass and sweetness equivalence, a common metric for understanding high intensity sweetener potency. Sweetness equivalence of RA60 is typically 200 to 300 times that of sugar. Comparison of environmental impact is made to sugar (sucrose) produced from both cane and beets. The research is part of the EU project SWEET (sweeteners and sweetness enhancers: impact on health, obesity, safety, and sustainability).Results and discussion: Global warming potential for production of RA60 was found to be 20.25 kgCO2-eq/kgRA60 on a mass basis and 0.081 kgCO2-eq/kgSE on a sweetness equivalence basis. Field production of stevia leaves was found to be the main source of impact for most impact categories, and for all four focus categories. Extraction of the RA60 was the main source of impact for the others. Leaf processing and seedling propagation were minor contributors to life cycle impact. Removal of international transport from the supply chain reduced global warming potential by 18.8%. Compared with sugar on a sweetness equivalence basis, RA60 has approximately 5.7% to 10.2% the impact for global warming potential, 5.6% to 7.2% the impact for land use, and is lower across most other impact categories.Conclusion: This is the first LCA of steviol glycoside mix RA60 produced from leaf in Europe. The results indicate that RA60 can be used to reduce environmental impact of providing a sweet taste by replacing sugar across all impact categories. However, it is important to note that specific formulations in which RA60 is used will have a bearing on the final environmental impact of any food or beverage products. For solid foods, this requires further research.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9.

AB - Purpose: There is an increasing interest in the use of non-nutritive sweeteners to replace added sugar in food and beverage products for reasons of improving consumer health. Much work has been done to understand safety of sweeteners, but very little on sustainability. To address that gap, this study presents the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of production of rebaudioside A 60%, 95% pure (RA60) steviol glycoside mix from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe.Methods: An attributional cradle-to-factory-gate life cycle assessment was conducted on growing of stevia leaves and extraction of steviol glycosides in Europe. Primary data were used from a case study supply chain. Results are reported in impact categories from the ReCiPe 2016 (H) method, with focus given to global warming potential, freshwater eutrophication, water consumption, and land use. Impacts are expressed both in terms of production mass and sweetness equivalence, a common metric for understanding high intensity sweetener potency. Sweetness equivalence of RA60 is typically 200 to 300 times that of sugar. Comparison of environmental impact is made to sugar (sucrose) produced from both cane and beets. The research is part of the EU project SWEET (sweeteners and sweetness enhancers: impact on health, obesity, safety, and sustainability).Results and discussion: Global warming potential for production of RA60 was found to be 20.25 kgCO2-eq/kgRA60 on a mass basis and 0.081 kgCO2-eq/kgSE on a sweetness equivalence basis. Field production of stevia leaves was found to be the main source of impact for most impact categories, and for all four focus categories. Extraction of the RA60 was the main source of impact for the others. Leaf processing and seedling propagation were minor contributors to life cycle impact. Removal of international transport from the supply chain reduced global warming potential by 18.8%. Compared with sugar on a sweetness equivalence basis, RA60 has approximately 5.7% to 10.2% the impact for global warming potential, 5.6% to 7.2% the impact for land use, and is lower across most other impact categories.Conclusion: This is the first LCA of steviol glycoside mix RA60 produced from leaf in Europe. The results indicate that RA60 can be used to reduce environmental impact of providing a sweet taste by replacing sugar across all impact categories. However, it is important to note that specific formulations in which RA60 is used will have a bearing on the final environmental impact of any food or beverage products. For solid foods, this requires further research.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Life cycle assessment

KW - High intensity sweeteners

KW - Stevia

KW - Steviol glycosides

KW - Stevia rebaudiana

U2 - 10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

DO - 10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36686846

VL - 28

SP - 221

EP - 233

JO - International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

JF - International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

SN - 0948-3349

IS - 3

ER -

ID: 333475393