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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409965
Research Project: Determination of Flavor and Healthful Benefits of Florida-Grown Fruits and Vegetables and Development of Postharvest Treatments to Optimize Shelf Life an Quality for Their Fresh and Processed Products

Location: Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research

Title: Correlation between in vitro binding activity of sweeteners to cloned human sweet taste receptor and sensory evaluation

Author
item CHOI, YOONHA - Ewha Woman'S University
item MANTHEY, JOHN - Retired ARS Employee
item PARK, TAI HYUN - Seoul National University
item CHA, YEON KYUNG - Seoul National University
item KIM, YANG - Seoul National University
item KIM, YURI - Ewha Woman'S University

Submitted to: Food Science and Biotechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2021
Publication Date: 5/18/2021
Citation: Choi, Y., Manthey, J.A., Park, T., Cha, Y., Kim, Y., Kim, Y. 2021. Correlation between in vitro binding activity of sweeteners to cloned human sweet taste receptor and sensory evaluation. Food Science and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-021-00905-z.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-021-00905-z

Interpretive Summary: Sweetness is perceived by the human tongue by a special protein. This protein has been reproduced in the test tube and an assay has been developed to measure the interaction between this protein and sweet chemicals, including amongst them, sugar and a number of artificial sweeteners. Among the artificial sweeteners was the derivative of a citrus compound neohesperidin. The derivative is 5000 times sweeter than sugar. The results of this study showed a good correlation between the in vitro activity assay of sweeteners and human sensory evaluation.

Technical Abstract: The human sweet taste receptor is a TAS1R2/TAS1R3 heterodimer. To investigate the correlation between the in vitro affinity of sweeteners with stably expressed human sweet taste receptor in HEK-293 cells and human sensory evaluation, the receptor-ligand activity of bulk (sucrose, D-fructose, and allulose) and high-intensity sweeteners (saccharin, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside M, and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone) was compared by analyzing the Ca2? release. The relative potency of the sweeteners was identified over a wide concentration range for EC50s. Relative to sucrose, bulk sweeteners showed similar concentration ranges and potency, whereas high intensity sweeteners exhibited lower concentration ranges and higher potency. The log of the calculated EC50 of each sweetener relative to sucrose by the in vitro affinity assay was positively correlated (r = 0.9943) with the molar relative sweetness reported in the previous literatures. These results suggested a good correlation between the in vitro activity assay of sweeteners and human sensory evaluation.