Essay on Sweeteners and Root Beer

Submitted By repete123
Words: 1058
Pages: 5
Open Document
Kitchen Chemistry:
Factors Affecting the Sweetness of Root Beer
Rebecca L. Peters
Lisbon Regional School

Abstract

This experiment was done to show how different sweeteners would make a difference in the taste of root beer. Eight different sweeteners were used to test how each would affect the sweetness. Sweeteners with higher sweetness indexes or sweeteners that the taste buds were more used to were the most popular. Although, sweeteners with too high of a sweetness index were disliked along with sweeteners with too low of a sweetness index. Keywords: sweeteners, root beer

Kitchen Chemistry:
Factors Affecting the Sweetness of Root Beer

Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to see how different sweeteners affect the taste of root beer.
Hypothesis
The effect of different sweeteners during the making of root beer will make a difference in the taste. Sweeteners that contain a higher sweetness index will be more popular.
Background Information Root beer is made by a process called fermentation. Fermentation also occurs in the making of wine and bread. Two products are made by fermentation: ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is what makes soda; it causes the bubbles that any fermented drink has. Originally root beer was made from the root of a sassafras tree or its bark, today however, there are extracts instead to make the process of making root beer more efficient (Fankhauser, 2000).
Barq’s and Mug, two popular American brands of root beer, both contain corn syrup as the main sweetener, although each mixes in a different mixture of flavors. The flavors may include a mix of vanilla, wintergreen, cherry, nutmeg, sarsaparilla, acacia, etc.; this causing the difference of taste between the two products (2014). Corn Syrup contains fructose which has a sweetness index of 1.7 (McCooey, n.d.). This is high compared to other sweeteners such as sucrose and some natural sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup which only have a sweetness index of 1 or 1.1(McCooey, n.d.). Since each contains different flavoring the preference to each will have a preference to each different type of sweetener substituted. While natural sweeteners, fructose, and sucrose obtain a sweetness index between 1 and 1.7, Equal, an artificial sweetener contains aspartame which has a sweetness index of 180 (McCooey, n.d.). Aspartame contains a very high sweetness index, which makes anything it is in have a sweet flavor (Domanico, n.d.). All of the sweeteners except for Equal have around the same sweetness index except each contain a different flavoring causing the difference in taste.
Materials
Mr. Root Beer root beer extract
½ teaspoon powdered baker’s yeast
Cold water
¾ cup of sugar
¾ cup of brown sugar
¾ cup of honey
¾ cup of maple syrup
¾ cup of equal
¾ cup of agave syrup
¾ cup of corn syrup
Procedure
1. All materials were gathered to conduct experiment.
2. ¾ of a cup of each sweetener, along with a mixture of ½ cup of white sugar mixed with ¼ cup of brown sugar, was added to each plastic 1L bottle.
3. ⅛ a teaspoon of powdered baker’s yeast was split between the bottles.
4. The bottles were shaken to mix the sweetener and yeast.
5. 1 tablespoon of root beer extract was added to each mixture.
6. Bottle was filled to the neck with cold water.
7. Bottle was then shaken to mix water with sweetener mixture.
8. Caps to all bottles were screwed down tightly.
9. Bottles were left at room temperature for 3-4 days until they felt hard when squeezed.
10. Once bottles were hard when squeezed the temperature around them was changed to a cooler one.
Data & Results
Root Beer Tasting on a Scale from 1-10
Data was collected from 9 testers.

Maple Syrup
Honey
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Agave Syrup
Corn Syrup
Artificial Sweetener
Brown Sugar & White Sugar

Barq's
4
3
3
5
4
2
4
2
Barq's
6.5
5
4
6
4
1
1
6
Mug
1
1
1
6
8
1
1
4
Barq's
5
4
5
5
2
2
6
3
Mug
4
6
3
8
7
2
2
8
Mug
5
4
3
4
9
1
7
6
Barq's
2
1
3
3
6
1
2
7
Barq's
5
1
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Sweeteners and Root Beer

Artificial Sweetener: is this Sweet Causing Health to Sour Essay

December 2013 Research Paper Artificial Sweeteners: Is this Sweet Causing Health to Sour? Millions of people struggle with weight loss in America. Part of the problem with obesity in America is the large amounts of sugar consumed on average by Americans. According to Deborah Warner, author of Sweet Stuff, “The average American today consumes some 150 pounds of sugar each year…”(1) . In an effort to combat weight gain, scientists have designed no-calorie sweeteners for use in beverages, candies, pastries…

Words 3620 - Pages 15

Medicare: Coca-cola and Value Proposition Essay

Executive Summary This report is a major group assignment for MKTG101, a unit that is part of the Diploma courses at SIBT, semester 1, 2013. It is a based on research initiated for the Group Presentation assignment. The Carbonated Soft Drink (CSD) industry, which is widely believed to be a considerably profitable industry, is virtually impossible for it to be dominated by only one company. As a result, PepsiCo who vies for the "throat share" in world's CSD industry tries to differentiate its product…

Words 5150 - Pages 21

Essay about Dr. Pepper 7 Up Inc.

1. What is the offering concept? What does this mean for Dr. Pepper/7Up Inc.? An offering consists of the benefits or satisfaction provided to target markets by an organization. It consists of a tangible product or service (a physical entity) plus related services (delivery and setup), brand name(s), warranties or guarantees, and packaging. Focusing on the term offering rather than just the product or service forces the marketer to go beyond the single tangible entity being marketed and to consider…

Words 4355 - Pages 18

Coco Energy Drink Essay

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Rationale of the Study Across the globe today, more and more people are becoming drawn to living healthy lifestyles, and practicing healthy eating habits. With the proliferation of diseases previously unheard of and the progression of already identified ones into more life-threatening strains, the adage “prevention is better than cure” has become a mantra among individuals wishing to preserve the well-being of their bodies. The natural products health…

Words 14924 - Pages 60

An Introduction to Intercultural Communication Essay

An Introduction to Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is of importance to international businesses as it examines how people from different cultures, beliefs and religions come together to work and communicate with each other. Demands for intercultural communication skills are increasing as more and more businesses go global or international. They realize that there are barriers and limitations when entering a foreign territory. Without the help of intercultural communication…

Words 29173 - Pages 117