Glycoside Synergy Strategy

Summary

Icon Foods’ MonkSweet™ and SteviaSweet™ systems are engineered to complement one another, solving the challenges of onset, linger, and flavor integrity across a wide range of applications from beverages to baked goods. By layering different glycosides with distinct temporal and receptor interactions, formulators can more closely mimic sucrose, suppress off-notes, and improve stability. In short: don’t just sweeten—engineer sweetness to deliver a better sensory experience and true innovation in better-for-you product development.

Authored by: Thom King, Icon Foods
Chief Innovations Officer/Certified Food Scientist

Let’s cut to the chase — blending glycosides is where the real alchemy happens in clean label sugar reduction. If you’re formulating in the better-for-you space and you’re still reaching for single glycoside solutions like pure Reb A or monk fruit V50, you’re playing checkers in a chess match.

At Icon Foods, we’ve engineered four synergistic sweetener systems — MonkSweet™ LS4, MonkSweet™ LS, SteviaSweet™ RM95D, and SteviaSweet™ RA99M — to work with each other, not against. Each brings a distinct sensory profile, sweetness curve, and functional advantage. Together, they solve the holy trinity of sweetener challenges: onset, linger, and flavor integrity.

Let’s dig in.

The Glycosides at Play: Composition & Character

Below is a graph illustrating the relative sweetness levels of MonkSweet™ and SteviaSweet™ glycoside blends compared to sucrose.

Sweetness Curves: The Temporal Dance

Below is a visual summary of how these sweeteners perform on a time-intensity curve against sucrose (100x baseline):

• MonkSweet™ LS4: mimics sucrose’s peak and decay most closely. It’s the darling for beverage formulations.
• SteviaSweet™ RM95D: slower onset but lingers in a smooth, clean finish. Excellent in dairy and protein applications.
• SteviaSweet™ RA99M: punches faster and harder than RM95D but mellows quickly.
• MonkSweet™ LS: quick and powerful but needs masking in sensitive applications like citrus.

Below please see the sweetness curve graph, comparing MonkSweet™ LS4, LS, SteviaSweet™ RM95D, RA99M, and sucrose.

Best Applications & Synergy Strategy

RTD Beverages & Drink Mixes

• Go-to Blend: MonkSweet™ LS4 + SteviaSweet™ RM95D
• Why: LS4 provides the bright upfront pop, while RM95D gives the lingering, clean sweetness needed to round off acidic or functional beverage bases. Both have masking properties that play particularly well in high protein dairy applications where bovine or barnyard off-notes may be expressed.
• Usage Levels:
  • MonkSweet™ LS4: 0.01–0.04%
  • SteviaSweet™ RM95D: 0.005–0.03%

Pro Tip: Pair with erythritol or allulose to backfill mouthfeel and modulate perception.

Bars & Functional Confections

• Go-to Blend: SteviaSweet™ RA99M + MonkSweet™ LS
• Why: RA99M offers faster release and complements nut butters, chocolate, and fruit pastes. LS adds monk fruit’s earthy lift.
• Usage Levels:
  • SteviaSweet™ RA99M: 0.008–0.02%
  • MonkSweet™ LS: 0.005–0.015%

Formulation Hack: Add polydextrose, inulin or soluble tapioca fiber to mask any late bitterness and aid in Maillard browning.

High-Protein RTMs & RTDs

• Go-to Blend: SteviaSweet™ RM95D + MonkSweet™ LS4
• Why: You need temperature stability, good dispersion, and flavor masking for plant or dairy proteins. RM95D offers heat resilience, LS4 offers clean upfront notes.
• Usage Levels:
  • SteviaSweet™ RM95D: 0.006–0.025%
  • MonkSweet™ LS4: 0.004–0.015%

Bonus: Add Thaumatin (ThauSweet VRM) at 25–50 ppm for additional mouthfeel and bitterness suppression.

Baked Goods & Cookies

• Go-to Blend: SteviaSweet™ RA99M + MonkSweet™ LS
• Why: RA99M behaves well in thermal processes, LS offsets the drying bitterness of high-temperature Reb A.
• Usage Levels:
  • SteviaSweet™ RA99M: 0.01–0.03%
  • MonkSweet™ LS: 0.006–0.012%

Backfill Pairing: Allulose or FOS for browning and humectancy.

Why Blending Works: Temporal and Receptor Layering

Glycosides don’t all hit the same receptors. Reb M and Reb A interact primarily with T1R2/T1R3 sweet taste receptors — but with different binding kinetics. Mogroside V appears to activate overlapping sweet receptors with its own unique temporal arc. Blending enables you to:

• Fill in temporal gaps (early onset + long tail)
• Counteract off-notes (Reb M smooths Reb A’s bitterness)
• Mimic sucrose’s clean, linear curve more accurately
• Reduce individual load and mitigate cost or supply risk

This is formulation jujutsu: use the glycosides’ differences to cancel out each other’s weaknesses.

Don’t Just Sweeten — Engineer Sweetness

Glycoside blending isn’t just about stacking high-intensity sweeteners—it’s about architecting sweetness. You’re not dumping Reb A into a base and hoping it lands right. You’re composing a sensory experience. Think of it like blending a fine whiskey—each note, each finish, has a purpose.

With the MonkSweet™ and SteviaSweet™ lines, you’re not choosing between stevia and monk fruit. You’re choosing how to harmonize them, dial in performance, and delight the end consumer—all while staying clean label, zero sugar, and label-friendly.

If you’re not using glycosides blends, you’re leaving performance—and flavor—on the table.

Icon Foods Advantage:

At Icon Foods, we take pride in offering not only high-quality sweeteners, sweetening systems, fibers, inclusions, and sweetness modulators, but also a concierge-level service that helps customers with formulation, technical support, and regulatory compliance. Our commitment to clean-label, functional ingredients and streamlined logistics ensures that our customers can confidently innovate with the highest quality ingredients in the industry.

Reach out to your Icon Foods representative for MonkSweet™ LS4, MonkSweet™ LS, SteviaSweet™ RM95D, and RA99Msamples, documentation and usage guidance. 

Since 1999 Icon Foods has been your reliable supply chain partner for sweeteners, fibers, sweetening systems, inclusions and sweetness modulators. 

Taste the Icon difference. 

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