HTBA launches citrose, a citrus-derived sweetener for sugar reduction
Barcelona-based HealthTech Bio Actives (HTBA) has launched citrose, a high-intensity sweetener complex derived from citrus, ahead of its debut at IFT FIRST in Chicago this July. The ingredient is designed to help food and beverage manufacturers reduce sugar content while maintaining a clean label and addressing the persistent taste trade-offs associated with alternative sweeteners.
A sweetener built for the sugar reduction squeeze
Citrose arrives as manufacturers face what HTBA describes as a difficult balancing act: 76% of global consumers say they want to limit sugar, while 85% of Americans still prioritise taste and texture. The company also points to the growing use of GLP-1 medication, noting that users of these drugs often report heightened sensitivity to artificial tastes, adding further pressure on formulators to find sweeteners that read as authentic rather than synthetic.
Reduced-sugar products frequently struggle with bitterness, lingering aftertastes and poor mouthfeel, while many alternative sweeteners require chemical-sounding names on pack. HTBA says citrose, at approximately several hundred times the sweetness of sugar, is intended to address this gap by delivering a more complete, sugar-like taste profile without those drawbacks.
Origins in upcycled citrus fruit
Citrose is a patented sweetener complex sourced from immature Citrus aurantium fruits that have naturally fallen to the ground before being collected, sun-dried and processed using HTBA’s proprietary methods. This origin has earned the ingredient Upcycled Certified™ status, and in the US it can be declared on pack under the consumer-friendly common name “citrose.”
The company says the ingredient produces a smoother, more balanced and cleaner sweetness profile, even in challenging applications, with fast sweetness onset, fewer off-notes and less lingering aftertaste, particularly when blended with other sweeteners.
Consumer testing and formulation performance
In a consumer study cited by HTBA, the ingredient name citrose ranked ahead of acesulfame-K, stevia, sucralose and aspartame in terms of perception. On sensory performance, consumers rated citrose as comparable to stevia in naturalness while scoring it higher for authenticity of taste. Citrose-sucralose blends earned top ratings on key taste attributes, and citrose-stevia blends were perceived as virtually identical to stevia-sugar combinations.
For formulators, HTBA positions these attributes as useful for cleaning up high-intensity blended sweetener systems, rounding out stevia blends, recovering fullness, or managing functional ingredient loads across applications including beverages, nutritional shakes and powders, dairy alternatives and baked goods.
“Food and beverage manufacturers are under pressure to reduce sugar, but taste remains the deciding factor for consumers,” said Emily Wagener, Global Product Manager for Taste Modulation at HTBA. “Citrose can help producers to improve sweetness quality without the tradeoffs, which is why we’re incredibly excited to introduce this new offering to product developers, R&D teams, and procurement professionals attending IFT FIRST. The timing is right, with the industry’s focus on sugar reduction and the growing influence of GLP-1 users who are more sensitive to artificial tastes.”
On show at IFT FIRST
The HTBA team will attend IFT FIRST in Chicago this July, where it will showcase citrose to product developers and procurement teams walking the show floor. Citrose is the latest addition to HTBA’s portfolio of taste modulation solutions, extending the company’s work in sugar reduction, clean labelling and sensory performance.
HTBA is a science-based global leader in the manufacturing and commercialisation of citrus flavonoids and active forms of vitamin B12 for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and animal nutrition sectors. Headquartered in Barcelona, the company operates its manufacturing facility in Murcia, Spain, alongside ideation centres in Spain and its North American operations centre in Ohio.
- For more information, visit: citrose.org
