Low-Sugar Juice Startup Adapts Technology For Fruit Sorbets

An Israeli startup that uses innovative technology to reduce the sugar content in fruit juices has created sorbets with around half of the sugar. 

Rehovot-based Better Juice uses natural enzymes to convert sugars in juice to non-digestible compounds, like dietary fibers. The sugar is replaced with other sweet molecules, without changing the taste or affecting the naturally occurring nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

The company adapted its proprietary technology for use with the fruit concentrates and purees that form the base of sorbets, producing a range of flavors of the frozen dessert, including apple, orange and strawberry. 

The sugar content of the soberts has been reduced by between 50 and 70 percent and the calorie count by around 40 percent.  

“Even products claiming zero added sugar still house approximately 6 percent to 10 percent percent sugar from the fruit juice concentrates alone,” said Better Juice co-founder and CEO Gali Yarom.

 “Our treated sorbets possess a more gentle sweetness yet retain all their characteristic fruity notes and flavor. Yet they have fewer calories and a lower glycemic index,” she said.

Sorbet has a higher glycemic index (the extent to which foods increase blood sugar) than ice cream. This is because it contains sugar from fruit but without the fat found in ice cream, which means the sugar is absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream. 

Better Juice plans to market its sugar-reducing technology to ice cream chains as a small plug-in unit that allows vendors to control the amount of sugar that is removed.  The technology can also be used for the fruit concentrates used to make ice cream.

“This accomplishment showcases our ability to broaden the scope of applications that our technology can apply to,” said Better Juice co-founder and CTO Eran Blachinsky.

“Its potential goes beyond just fruit juices to any product that contains real fruit components, such as jams and fruit roll-ups which are also in the pipeline for a Better Juice sugar reduction makeover. We deliver good news to consumers who are consciously seeking to reduce their sugar intake or with sugar sensitivities without having to give up the enjoyment of these sweet delights.”