Sweet proteins are a family of proteins with no structure or sequence homology, able to elicit a sweet sensation in humans through their interaction with the dimeric T1R2-T1R3 sweet receptor. In particular, monellin and its single chain derivative (MNEI) are among the sweetest proteins known to men. Starting from a careful analysis of the surface electrostatic potentials, we have designed new m...

In a study of the impact of aspartame, fat, and carbohydrate on appetite, we monitored blood glucose continuously for 431 (SE 16) min. Ten healthy males (19-31 years) participated in three time-blinded visits. As blood glucose was monitored, appetite ratings were scored at randomized times. On the first meal initiation, volunteers consumed one of three isovolumetric drinks (aspartame, 1 MJ simp...

Psychophysical judgments often depend on stimulus context. For example, sugar solutions are judged sweeter when a tasteless fruity aroma has been added. Response context also matters; adding a fruity aroma to sugar increases the rated sweetness when only sweetness is considered but not when fruitiness is judged as well. The interaction between stimulus context and response context has been expl...

The perception of sweetness and flavour were studied in viscous solutions containing 50 g/l sucrose, 100 p.p.m. iso-amyl acetate and varying concentrations of three hydrocolloid thickeners (guar gum, lambda-carrageenan and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose). Zero-shear viscosity of the samples ranged from 1 to 5000 mPas. Perception of both sweetness and aroma was suppressed at thickener concentrati...

The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that weight loss induced by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has greater effects on taste perception and eating behavior than comparable weight loss induced by sleeve gastrectomy (SG). We evaluated the following outcomes in 31 subjects both before and after ~20% weight loss induced by RYGB (n = 23) or SG (n = 8): (1) sweet, savory, and salty tast...

Six commercial varieties of organically grown edamame-type soybeans were compared using consumer testing and descriptive analysis. In the affective tests, 54 panelists rated pods and beans for appearance, and beans for aroma, taste, texture, aftertaste, and overall acceptability on a nine-point hedonic scale and willingness to buy on a nine-point category scale. The taste of Sayamusume was like...

The study aimed on evaluating the feasibility of NIRS to predict sweetness and acidity of intact mango fruit in form of soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) through calibration modeling. Diffuse reflectance spectra in NIR wavelength range of 1000 – 2500 nm were acquired for a total of 58 mango samples. PCR and PLSR were used to develop SCC or TA prediction models respectivel...

Evidence from both human and animal studies suggests that sensitivity to rewarding stimuli is positively associated with impulsive behaviors, including both impulsive decision making and inhibitory control. The current study examined associations between the hedonic value of a sweet taste and two forms of impulsivity (impulsive choice and impulsive action) in healthy young adults (N = 100). Par...

Preference for a solution of a particular sweetness is increased by its previous association with postingestive effects of 10% glucose or polysaccharide solutions. Sweetness acceptance is decreased by previous association with 25%-50% glucose solutions. Conditioning in these two directions simultaneously by continuous access to a choice of solutions can reverse the usual gradient of preference ...

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a small perennial shrub of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family that is native to South America, particularly Brazil and Paraguay, where it is known as "stevia" or "honey leaf" for its powerful sweetness. Several studies have suggested that in addition to their sweetness, steviosides and their related compounds, including rebaudioside A and isosteviol, may offer addit...