One of the first questions people ask when trying TREHA® is:

How much trehalose should I use?

For many recipes, the simplest answer is:

Start by replacing around 20% of the ordinary sugar with TREHA®.

That is an excellent general starting point for cakes, biscuits and many other sweet recipes.

But there is no single trehalose ratio that works for everything.

In some recipes TREHA® replaces part of the sucrose. In bread it is usually added as a percentage of the flour. In sorbet it is more useful to calculate it as a percentage of the complete mixture. In pastry and choux it can be used in small quantities primarily for its functional effects.

Nagase Viita, the manufacturer of TREHA®, recommends approximately 20–30% sugar replacement as a general starting point for confectionery, while stressing that the ideal amount depends on the application.[1]

The table below gives you a practical place to start.

TREHA® ratios at a glance

These are starting ratios. Once you understand the effect TREHA® has on your particular recipe, you can increase or decrease it to produce the result you want.

Why isn't there one Trehalose substitution ratio?

TREHA® is not simply a less-sweet version of table sugar.

It is about 40% as sweet as sucrose, but bakers, chefs and food developers also use it to influence:

• moisture
• softness
• staling
• crispness
• frozen texture
• ice-crystal growth
• foam stability
• flavour balance
• browning
• frozen storage

That means the right amount depends on what you want TREHA® to do.

A cake where you want less sweetness and improved softness requires a different approach from a loaf of bread, where the objective might be keeping the crumb softer for longer.

The easiest starting rule: replace 20% of the sugar

For a conventional cake, biscuit or dessert recipe, begin by replacing:

20% of the sucrose by weight with TREHA®.

So:

100g sugar → 80g sugar + 20g TREHA®

Or:

200g sugar → 160g sugar + 40g TREHA®

The total amount of sugar solids stays the same while sweetness is reduced.

Nagase's detailed professional guidance confirms that 20–30% replacement is a particularly common working range across cakes, biscuits, confectionery and desserts.[2] 

From there, adjust according to the result.

How much Trehalose should I use in cakes?

For most cakes:

Start at 20% sucrose replacement.

This gives a noticeable reduction in sweetness while retaining the solids and functional contribution of sugar.

Pound and loaf cakes

Try:

15–20% replacement

Nagase recommends this range for pound-style cake, where TREHA® can contribute to a softer, moister texture and help the cake resist firming during storage.[2]

Sponge and genoise

Try:

20–30% replacement

This is a particularly useful range where lightness, foam stability and softness are important.

Recent research on chiffon cake also found 20–30% sucrose substitution produced the best overall baking quality, with 30% increasing specific volume and giving the lowest hardness during storage.[3] 

Chocolate cake

Try:

20–30% replacement

TREHA® works particularly well with chocolate because lowering sweetness allows cocoa and dark-chocolate flavours to become more prominent.

For a cake containing 250g sugar, a 25% trial would be:

187.5g sucrose + 62.5g TREHA®

You can round that conveniently to:

190g sugar + 60g TREHA®

How much TREHA® should I use in biscuits and cookies?

For most cookies and biscuits:

Start with 20–30% sugar replacement.

Nagase recommends 30% for cookies and 20–30% for sablé-style biscuits.[2] 

TREHA® is particularly useful here because it can help maintain a crisp texture and improve resistance to humidity.

If your cookie recipe contains 150g sugar:

30% replacement = 105g sucrose + 45g TREHA®

For your first attempt, 20% is perfectly reasonable if you want to make a more conservative change.

How much Trehalose should I use in meringue?

Meringue is one of the applications where you can use considerably more TREHA®.

Chiffon cakes and soufflés

Try:

30–40% of the sugar used in the meringue

Nagase recommends this range for chiffon and soufflé applications, where TREHA® contributes to a light structure and stable foam.[2] 

Italian meringue

Try:

30–50% sugar replacement

TREHA® can help create a fine, stable meringue with controlled sweetness.

Dry meringues

Much higher TREHA® levels are possible.

Nagase's professional guidance uses TREHA® for 83–90% of the sugar system in some dried-meringue formulations.[2] 

This is a specialist application where TREHA®'s lower sweetness and ability to support a crisp, humidity-resistant texture become particularly valuable.

Bread uses a completely different rule

Do not use the 20% sugar-replacement rule for ordinary bread.

TREHA® is not readily used by conventional baker's yeast as a fermentation source, so Nagase recommends using it alongside the normal fermentable sugar rather than simply replacing that sugar.[4]

For bread, calculate TREHA® against the weight of the flour.

Ordinary white or wheat bread

Use:

About 4% of flour weight as your first trial

So:

500g flour → 20g TREHA®

Nagase recommends a broader 2–5% flour-weight range for white bread.[4] Independent research testing 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% trehalose found the 4% bread produced the best overall sensory result, highest loaf volume and lowest crumb hardness after storage.[5] 

That makes 4% a particularly good starting point.

Brioche and enriched bread

Start around:

5% of flour weight

So:

500g flour → 25g TREHA®

Nagase gives a broader 5–10% flour-weight range for sweet breads.[4] 

Again, keep the normal sucrose in the recipe initially.

TREHA® is being added for its functional contribution rather than simply replacing the sugar that feeds the yeast.

Wholemeal bread

Start around:

4–5% of flour weight

Nagase gives a wider professional range of 3–10%, particularly where improved moistness and restrained sweetness are wanted.[4] 

For 500g flour:

20–25g TREHA®

is a sensible first batch.

Croissants

For croissants:

Start around 5% of flour weight

Nagase's broader range is 3–10%.[4] 

Because croissants combine yeast fermentation with laminated pastry, TREHA® can contribute to both the eating quality of the dough and its frozen-storage performance.

How much Trehalose should I use in ice cream?

For ordinary dairy ice cream and gelato:

Replace approximately 20–30% of the sucrose with TREHA®.

Nagase's wider manufacturer recommendation is 15–40% sucrose replacement for vanilla ice cream.[2] 

For example:

200g sucrose

becomes:

150g sucrose + 50g TREHA®

for a 25% trial.

Modern research testing 15% and 30% sucrose replacement in Fior di Latte ice cream found the trehalose formulations produced the most balanced overall sensory performance of the alternative sweeteners tested.[6] 

Professional gelato formulations follow the same general principle. Sosa's Fior di Latte, for example, combines 44g trehalose with sucrose, glucose and dextrose in a 1kg mix.[7]

For more detail, see How to Use Trehalose in Ice Cream, Gelato and Sorbet.

How much TREHA® should I use in sorbet?

Sorbet is easier to calculate against the whole recipe rather than simply the sucrose.

Start with:

TREHA® at approximately 5% of the total mixture

Therefore:

500g sorbet → 25g TREHA®

1kg sorbet → 50g TREHA®

Nagase recommends a broader 5–8% of total formulation for sorbets.[2] 

This provides enough TREHA® to make a meaningful difference to sweetness and texture while giving you room to balance the remaining sucrose and glucose around the fruit.

Puff pastry needs only a small amount

TREHA® does not always need to replace sugar.

In puff pastry, Nagase recommends approximately:

2% of the base formulation, excluding the roll-in butter

The purpose here is primarily functional, helping support crisp, fine layers while improving resistance to moisture and fat migration.[2] 

So this should be treated as an addition, rather than as ordinary sugar substitution.

Choux pastry

For choux:

Use approximately 2–3% of the complete formulation

Nagase uses TREHA® here to support moisture retention, shell quality and a clean internal cavity.[2] 

Again, this is a functional addition rather than simply replacing the small amount of sugar found in a choux recipe.

A simple TREHA® calculator

For sugar replacement, use:

TREHA® required = original sugar × desired replacement percentage

If the recipe contains 200g sugar:

For bread, calculate against flour instead:

TREHA® = flour weight × baker's percentage

For 500g flour:

For sorbet, calculate against the total recipe:

1kg mix × 5% = 50g TREHA®

Should I ever replace all the sugar with TREHA®?

Sometimes, but it is rarely the best first experiment.

Nagase's general advice for confectionery is to begin around 20–30% replacement, because very high TREHA® levels can produce too little sweetness or change crystallisation and texture.[1] 

However, specialist formulations can use dramatically more.

Examples include:

• dry meringues
• savoury frozen desserts
• specialist confectionery
• glazing
• low-sweetness technical formulations

Once you understand what TREHA® is doing in your recipe, there is no reason to treat 30% as a maximum.

It is simply an excellent place to start.

When should I use more TREHA®?

Consider increasing TREHA® when you want:

• less sweetness
• stronger fruit, chocolate, dairy or nut flavours
• greater moisture retention
• increased softness during storage
• improved frozen performance
• more control over ice crystals
• a crisp, humidity-resistant biscuit or meringue

Increase gradually and compare batches.

Going from 20% to 30% usually tells you far more than jumping immediately from 20% to complete replacement.

When should I use less?

Reduce the amount if:

• the finished product is not sweet enough
• browning is important to the recipe
• you see unwanted crystallisation
• a bread dough becomes slower or more difficult to mix
• the texture has moved beyond the result you want

TREHA® gives you another formulation control. The objective is not to use as much as possible, but to use enough to achieve the effect you want.

The easiest ratios to remember

If you remember only four numbers, make them these:

Cakes and biscuits: 20% sugar replacement

Bread: 4% of flour weight

Ice cream and gelato: 20–30% sugar replacement

Sorbet: 5% of total mix

Those four starting points cover a large proportion of the ways people first experiment with TREHA®.

From there, the more specialised guides on Trehalose.co.uk can help you refine the formulation.

Buy TREHA® for cooking and food development

Trehalose UK supplies genuine Japanese TREHA® manufactured by Nagase Viita Co., Ltd., formerly Hayashibara.

TREHA® Trehalose Powder 1kg
Ideal for trying TREHA®, home cooking and recipe development.

TREHA® Trehalose Powder 2.5kg
For regular users, pastry chefs and professional kitchens.

TREHA® Bulk Trehalose Powder 20kg
For bakeries, gelaterias, food development and commercial production.

For application-specific advice, see:

How to Use Trehalose in Baking
for cakes, cookies, meringue and pastry.

How to Use Trehalose in Bread
for baker's percentages, yeast, brioche, sourdough and freshness.

How to Use Trehalose in Ice Cream, Gelato and Sorbet
for sweetness, frozen texture and sorbet formulation.

And if you are new to the ingredient, start with Trehalose vs Sugar: What's the Difference?

References & further reading

[1] Nagase Viita Co., Ltd. “Frequently Asked Questions: TREHA®.” Manufacturer guidance recommends approximately 20–30% replacement of sugar as a general starting point for confectionery and describes TREHA® as approximately 40% as sweet as sucrose.
Nagase Viita TREHA® FAQ

[2] Nagase Viita Co., Ltd. “TREHA® Recommended Usage Levels: Confectionery and Desserts.” Detailed manufacturer guidance covering cakes, cookies, meringues, pastry, choux, ice cream, sorbet and other applications.
Nagase TREHA® confectionery usage guide

[3] Fu, Yang, et al. “Physicochemical and Anti-Staling Properties of Chiffon Cake with Trehalose as Clean Label for Sucrose Substitution.” Food Chemistry 525 (2026): 150475. The study found 20–30% substitution delivered the strongest overall baking performance.
Food Chemistry chiffon-cake study

[4] Nagase Viita Co., Ltd. “TREHA® Recommended Usage Levels: Bread.” Manufacturer guidance covering white bread, sweet bread, wholemeal, rice bread and croissants, including the advice to retain fermentable sugar alongside TREHA®.
Nagase TREHA® bread guide

[5] Kim, Young-Ja, Jeong-Hoon Lee, Koo-Chun Chung, and Si-Kyung Lee. “Effects of Trehalose on Quality Characteristics of White Pan Bread.” Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 43, no. 5 (2014): 712–719. Bread containing 4% added trehalose achieved the strongest overall sensory performance and particularly favourable loaf volume and storage softness.
White pan bread study

[6] Liburdi, Katia, Alessandro Crinò, Chiara Fabrizi, and Marco Esti. “Preparation and Evaluation of Sucrose-Reduced Ice Cream: Optimization via Physiochemical and Sensory Study.” International Dairy Journal 169 (2025): 106339. Trehalose was tested at 15% and 30% sucrose replacement and achieved the most balanced sensory results among the alternative sweeteners studied.
International Dairy Journal ice-cream study

[7] Sosa Ingredients. “Fior di Latte by Iván Vázquez.” Professional 1kg gelato formulation combining 44g trehalose with sucrose, glucose and dextrose.
Sosa Fior di Latte formulation