Sucrose, taste intensity, effects

Enhancers and Inducers. A sweetness enhancer is defined as a compound that imparts no taste per se, but when combined with a sweetener in small quantities, increases sweetness intensity. A tme sweetness enhancer has yet to be found. However, a good sweetness inducer, miraculin [143403-94-5] or [125267-18-7] (124), is known. Miraculin is a glycoprotein found in the fmit (called Miracle Fmit) of a West African shmb, chardella dulcifica. By itself, miraculin imparts no sweetness. When activated in the mouth by acidic substances, however, a sucrose-like sweetness is perceived. Thus, sour lemon, lime, grapefmit, rhubarb, and strawberry taste sweet when combined with miraculin. The taste conversion effect can last an hour or longer. 

These time-intensity effects are illustrated in Fig. 42 by a plot of perceived intensity vs. time, curve A being given by a stimulus molecule, such as sucrose, which exhibits rapid taste onset and cutoff, and curve B approximates the behavior of most dihydrochalcone sweeteners. 

Figure 3. The effects of Gymnema sylvestre on the taste intensity of sucrose. Reproduced with permission from Ref. 15. Copyright 1969, Rockefeller University Press.

An interesting engineering approach was proposed by Kokini and coworkers to model viscosity-taste interactions. Kokini et al. (1982) have studied the perception of sweetness of sucrose and fructose in solutions with various tomato solids contents, and with basis on the observed decreasing of sweetness intensity as the percentage of tomato solids increased, they have proposed a more complex but rather comprehensive physical model relating viscosity and taste intensity, based on the physics and chemistry in the mouth. This model was further successfully applied (Cussler et al., 1979) to explain the effect of the presence of hydrocolloids at different levels on the subjective... 

Low sweetness sweeteners are of interest because they are generally metabolized in the body yet do not contribute to dental caries, and tend to have a lower effect on blood glucose in diabetics. Four examples are discussed here. Where sweetness equal to sucrose is desired, a high intensity sweetener can be mixed with it in most countries. However low sweetness caloric sweeteners are of particular interest for persons with kidney disease, where it is often difficult to get them to take enough calories. Use of glucose syrups to "stuff calories" with little water is often unacceptable to the patient because of the excessively sweet taste. Perhaps someone will develop a low sweetness metabolizable sweetener for these people. 

The chemical structure of the most important nonnutritive sweeteners is shown in Figure 11-4. Saccharin is available as the sodium or calcium salt of orthobenzosulfimide. The cyclamates are the sodium or calcium salts of cyclohexane sulfamic acid or the acid itself. Cyclamate is 30 to 40 times sweeter than sucrose, and about 300 times sweeter than saccharin. Organoleptic comparison of sweetness indicates that the medium in which the sweetener is tasted may affect the results. There is also a concentration effect. At higher concentrations, the sweetness intensity of the synthetic sweeteners increases at a lower rate than that which occurs with sugars. This has been ascribed to the bitter-... 

The first artificial sweetener to be used extensively was saccharine, which is used commonly as its more soluble sodium salt. Saccharine is about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. The discovery of saccharine was hailed as a great benefit for diabetics because it could be used as an alternative to sugar. As a pure substance, the sodium salt of saccharine has a very intense sweet taste, with a somewhat bitter aftertaste. Because it has such an intense taste, it can be used in very small amounts to achieve the desired effect. In some preparations, sorbitol is added to ameliorate the bitter aftertaste. Prolonged studies on laboratory animals have shown that saccharine is a possible carcinogen. In spite of this health risk, the government has permitted saccharine to be used in foods that are primarily intended to be used by diabetics. 

Substitution of one or more of the -OH groups of sucrose by a -Cl atom has a profound effect on its taste thus it may greatly increase the intensity of its sweetness or abolish it altogether. The most promising of these chlorinated sugars as an alternative sweetener is Sucralose which has a Cl atom substituted on carbon atoms 4,1 and 6. It is 650 times sweeter than sucrose itself, lacks the unpleasant aftertaste of saccharin and gives no evidence of any adverse effects. It will be interesting to see if it becomes a commercial success. 

Salty substances exhibit a variety of pharmacological effects, whose character depends on the type of cation and anion. Some substances are toxic at higher concentrations. The compound consumed in the largest amount is sodium chloride. The daily intake of salt in developed countries is estimated at 8 15g. Sodium chloride supports the perception of taste of foods at the required intensity and fullness, stimulates not only receptors for salty taste, but significantly increases the perception of the sweet taste of sucrose and some other sweet substances, as well as sour taste perception, and suppresses the sensation of metaUic taste and some other... 

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