Authenticity assessment of commercial natural sweeteners using near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy with DD-SIMCA modeling

Abstract

This study presents a direct method to verify the purity and authenticity of erythritol, xylitol, and stevia using near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy combined with a DD-SIMCA classification model. The model was enhanced with virtual samples created by adding PCA residuals and noise, improving robustness and accuracy. The validation was performed using independent sample sets, including commercial natural sweeteners and samples adulterated with saccharin, sucrose, acesulfame, and silicon dioxide. For xylitol, efficiency rates (EFR) of 97 % (NIR) and 95 % (MIR) were achieved, while erythritol achieved EFRs of 96 % (NIR) and 98 % (MIR). Conversely, stevia exhibited significant variation in its spectral profile across different brands and batches due to the natural variability of steviol glycosides and extraction conditions. Consequently, the EFR for stevia reached only 61 % (NIR) and 90 % (MIR). This approach offers a fast and accurate alternative for verifying the authenticity of natural sweeteners supporting quality control and anti-adulteration efforts.