Sweet taste modifier

That the initial event of taste stimulation takes place on the cell surface of the taste receptor is now universally accepted. In addition, accumulated evidence strongly suggests that taste-bud stimulation is extracellular in nature. For example, (1) the sweet-taste response is both rapid and reversible, (2) the intensely sweet proteins monellin" and thaumatin could not possibly penetrate the cell, because of their size, and (3) miraculin, the taste-modifying glycoprotein, having a molecular weight of 44,000 would also be too large to penetrate the taste cell. ... 

There are seven known sweet and taste-modifying proteins, namely (1) monellin and (2) thaumatin (3) mabinlin. and (4) curculin (5) pentadin, (6) brazzein and (7) miraculin.The properties and characteristics of these proteins are illustrated in Table 2. There are several recent reviews relating to sweet proteins. Apart from curculin and... 

Curculin which is extracted with 0.5 M sodium chloride from the fruits of Curculigo latifolia and purified by ammonium sulphate fractionation, CM-sepharose ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration.The protein acts as a low calorie sweetener and has a maximum sweetness equal to 0.35 M of sucrose. In addition to its sweetness, curculin also has taste modifying abilities since water and sour substances elicit a sweet taste after consumption of curculin. Currently, there is no other protein that has both sweet taste and taste modifying abilities. 

The taste modifying activity of the protein remains unchanged when it is incubated at 50°C for 1 hour between pH 3 and 11. Curculin elicits a sweet taste. It is 20 000 times sweeter than sucrose on a molar basis and 550... 

Kurihara Y, Harada S, Maeda S, Kai Y, Kasai N, GrystaUization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of curcidin A new type of sweet protein having taste-modifying action,/Afo/Sio/238 286—287, 1994. 

Yamashita H,Theerasilp S, AiuchiT, NakayaK, Nakamura Y, Kurihara Y, Purification and complete amino acid sequence of a new type of sweet protein with taste-modifying activity, curculin, / o/ Chem 265(26) 15770-15775, 1990. 

Gan Cao enters the 12 meridians, and its sweet taste gives this herb tonifying, modifying and harmonizing abilities. It is able to tonify and moisten... 

In the field of food additives, several sucrose derivatives have found applications.18 The use of sucrose itself as a food ingredient on account of its sweet taste and its properties as a bulking agent is not detailed here. Some fructooligosaccharides having a DP of 5-10 have been shown to be bifidogenic, and are used as food additives (Scheme 47).227,246 Also, most of the modified... 

Gibbs, B.F., Alii, I., and Mulligan, C. 1996. Sweet and taste-modifying proteins a review. Nutr. Res. 16, 1619-1630. 

This section describes sweet-tasting natural products that have been found to date. Taste-modifying compounds and antisweet substances are also discussed. 

Curculin (13kDa, 4 Cys, protein) Curculigo latfolia (Hypoxidaceae) [fruit] Sweet (modifies taste induces sweet taste)... 

Human taste response is modified by several plant-derived substances. The detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate, as well as triterpene saponins from the leaves of several plant species (most notably Gymnema sylvestre and Ziziphus jujuba) will temporarily inhibit the sweet taste sensation in man the duration of the effect being about one hour for G. sylvestre and about fifteen minutes for Z. jujuba. The mechanism of action seems to be related, in part, to the surfactant properties of the materials. Structures of the modifiers and possible mechanisms of action are discussed. 

Sodium dodecyl sulfate, the gymnemic acids and the ziziphins have all been termed "surface active" taste modifiers because they all possess detergent-like properties. These molecules all have a polar and a non-polar end and they are capable of penetrating the phospholipid membranes that are believed to be components of sweetness receptors. Any speculation about the mechanism of action of these substances must take into account the experimental observations concerning miraculin, monellin, and thaumatin, which were presented at the beginning of this article. Those observations suggested that transport of the modifier to the cell s interior was not occurring and the inhibition effect is manifested at the surface of the cell. 

Glycol.— This synthesis of di-hydroxy ethane was discovered by Wurtz, in 1854. The compound was named by him, glycol, because of its sweet taste. It is known also as ethylene glycol. The synthesis may be modified by substituting potassium acetate for the silver salt. Also, ethylene bromide is converted directly into the di-hydroxy compound, by boiling with dilute potassium carbonate. 

Sweet-tasting and sweetness modifying constituents of plants NAM-CHEOL KIM AND A. DOUGLAS KINGHORN... 

SWEET-TASTING AND SWEETNESS-MODIFYING CONSTITUENTS OF PLANTS... 

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