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Monellin
Monellin, a sweet protein, was discovered in 1969 in the fruit of the West African shrub known as serendipity berry (''Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii''); it was first reported as a carbohydrate.GE Inglett, JF May. Serendipity berries - Source of a new intense sweetener. J Food Sci 1969, 34:408-411. The protein was named in 1972 after the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, U.S.A., where it was isolated and characterized. Protein composition Monellin's molecular weight is 10.7 Atomic mass unit, kDa. It has two noncovalently associated polypeptide chains: an A chain sequence with 44 amino acid residues, and a B chain with 50 residues. Monellin chain A (44 AA): Monellin chain B (50 AA): Amino acid#Table of standard amino acid abbreviations and properties, Amino acid sequence of the sweet protein monellin adapted from Swiss-Prot biological database of protein. Monellin has a secondary structure consisting of five beta-strands that form an antiparallel beta-sheet and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monell Chemical Senses Center
The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute located at the University City Science Center campus in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania. Monell conducts and publishes interdisciplinary basic research on taste, Olfaction, smell, and chemesthesis (chemically mediated skin senses, such as the burn of capsaicin or the tingle of carbonation). Overview Monell was founded in 1968. The center's mission is to advance knowledge of the mechanisms and functions of the chemical senses. Knowledge gained from Monell’s research is relevant to issues related to public health, national health policy, and quality of life, including studies of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, pediatric health, occupational safety, environmental interactions, and national defense. Monell has a staff of more than 50 scientists and provides research opportunities for local high school and undergraduate students. Situated in Philadelphia’s University City Science Center, the center o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugar Substitutes
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets. In North America, common sugar substitutes include aspartame, monk fruit extract, saccharin, sucralose, and stevia; cyclamate is also used outside the United States. These sweeteners are a fundamental ingredient in diet drinks to sweeten them without adding calories. Additionally, sugar alcohols such as erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol are derived from sugars. Approved artificial sweeteners do not cause cancer. Reviews and dietetic professionals have concluded that moderate use of non-nutritive sweeteners as a safe replacement for sugars can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentadin
Pentadin, a sweet-tasting protein, was discovered and isolated in 1989, in the fruit of Oubli (''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' ), a climbing shrub growing in some tropical countries of Africa. The fruit has been consumed by the apes and the natives for a long time. The berries of the plant were incredibly sweet African locals call them "j'oublie" (French for "I forget") because their taste helps nursing infants forget their mothers' milk. Pentadin, with brazzein discovered in 1994, are the 2 sweet-tasting proteins discovered in this African fruit. Pentadin molecular weight estimated to be 12kDa. It is reported to be 500 times sweeter than sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ... on a weight basis, with its sweetness having a slow onset and decline similar to monelli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miraculin
Miraculin is a :Taste modifiers, taste modifier, a glycoprotein extracted from the fruit of ''Synsepalum dulcificum''. The berry, also known as the miracle fruit, was documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais, who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa. Miraculin itself does not taste sweet. When taste buds are exposed to miraculin, the protein binds to the sweetness receptors. This causes normally sour-tasting acidic foods, such as citrus, to be perceived as sweet. The effect can last for one or two hours. History The sweetening properties of ''Synsepalum dulcificum'' berries were first noted by des Marchais during expeditions to West Africa in the 18th century. The term ''miraculin'' derived from experiments to isolate and purify the active glycoprotein that gave the berries their sweetening effects, results that were published simultaneously by Japanese and Dutch scientists working independently in the 1960s (the Dutch team cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumatin
Thaumatin (also known as talin) is a low-calorie sweetener and flavor modifier. The protein is often used primarily for its flavor-modifying properties and not exclusively as a sweetener. The thaumatins were first found as a mixture of proteins isolated from the katemfe fruit (''Thaumatococcus daniellii'') (Marantaceae) of West Africa. Although very sweet, thaumatin's taste is markedly different from sugar's. The sweetness of thaumatin builds very slowly. Perception lasts a long time, leaving a liquorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations. Thaumatin is highly water soluble, stable to heating, and stable under acidic conditions. Biological role Thaumatin production is induced in katemfe in response to an attack upon the plant by viroid pathogens. Several members of the thaumatin protein family display significant ''in vitro'' inhibition of hyphal growth and sporulation by various fungi. The thaumatin protein is considered a prototype for a pathogen-response protein do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curculin
Curculin or neoculin is a sweet protein that was discovered and isolated in 1990 from the fruit of ''Curculigo latifolia'' (Hypoxidaceae), a plant from Malaysia. Like miraculin, curculin exhibits taste-modifying activity; however, unlike miraculin, it also exhibits a sweet taste by itself. After consumption of curculin, water and sour solutions taste sweet. The plant is referred to locally as 'Lumbah' or 'Lemba'. Protein structure The active form of curculin is a heterodimer consisting of two monomeric units connected through two disulfide bridges. The mature monomers each consist of a sequence of 114 amino acids, weighing 12.5 kDa (curculin 1) and 12.7 kDa (curculin 2), respectively. While each of the two isoforms is capable of forming a homodimer, these do not possess the sweet taste nor the taste-modifying activity of the heterodimeric form. To avoid confusion, the heterodimeric form is sometimes referred to as "neoculin". *1, 1-50: DNVLLSGQTL HADHSLQAGA YTLTIQNKCN LVKYQ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brazzein
Brazzein is a sweet-tasting protein extracted from the West African fruit of the climbing plant Oubli (''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' Henri Ernest Baillon, Baillon). It was first isolated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994. Brazzein is found in the extracellular region, in the pulp tissue surrounding the seeds. With pentadin, discovered in 1989, brazzein is the second sweet-tasting protein discovered in the Oubli fruit. Like the other sweet proteins discovered in plants, such as monellin and thaumatin, it is extremely sweet compared to commonly used sweeteners (500 to 2000 times sweeter than sucrose). The fruit tastes sweet to humans, monkeys, and bonobos, but gorillas have mutations in their sweetness receptors so that they do not find brazzein sweet, and they are not known to eat the fruit. Traditional use The Oubli plant (from which the protein was isolated) grows in Gabon and Cameroon, where its fruit has been consumed by the apes and local people for a long time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mabinlin
Mabinlins are sweet, sweet-tasting proteins extracted from the seed of mabinlang (''Capparis masaikai Levl.''), a plant growing in Yunnan province of China. There are four homologues. Mabinlin-2 was first isolated in 1983 and characterised in 1993, and is the most extensively studied of the four. The other variants of mabinlin-1, -3 and -4 were discovered and characterised in 1994. Protein structures The 4 mabinlins are very similar in their Amino acid#Table of standard amino acid abbreviations and properties, amino acids peptide sequence, sequences (see below). ''Chain A'' M-1: M-2: M-3: M-4: ''Chain B'' M-1: M-2: M-3: M-4: ''Amino acid sequence of Mabinlins homologues are adapted from Swiss-Prot biological database of protein. The molecular weights of Mabinlin-1, Mabinlin-3 and Mabinlin-4 are 12.3 Atomic mass unit, kDa, 12.3 kDa and 11.9 kDa, respectively. With a molecular weight of 10.4kDa, mabinlin-2 is lighter than mabinlin-1. It is a heterodimer consisting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugar Substitute
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets. In North America, common sugar substitutes include aspartame, monk fruit extract, saccharin, sucralose, and stevia; cyclamate is also used outside the United States. These sweeteners are a fundamental ingredient in diet drinks to sweeten them without adding calories. Additionally, sugar alcohols such as erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol are derived from sugars. Approved artificial sweeteners do not cause cancer. Reviews and dietetic professionals have concluded that moderate use of non-nutritive sweeteners as a safe replacement for sugars can he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumatin
Thaumatin (also known as talin) is a low-calorie sweetener and flavor modifier. The protein is often used primarily for its flavor-modifying properties and not exclusively as a sweetener. The thaumatins were first found as a mixture of proteins isolated from the katemfe fruit (''Thaumatococcus daniellii'') (Marantaceae) of West Africa. Although very sweet, thaumatin's taste is markedly different from sugar's. The sweetness of thaumatin builds very slowly. Perception lasts a long time, leaving a liquorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations. Thaumatin is highly water soluble, stable to heating, and stable under acidic conditions. Biological role Thaumatin production is induced in katemfe in response to an attack upon the plant by viroid pathogens. Several members of the thaumatin protein family display significant ''in vitro'' inhibition of hyphal growth and sporulation by various fungi. The thaumatin protein is considered a prototype for a pathogen-response protein do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miraculin
Miraculin is a :Taste modifiers, taste modifier, a glycoprotein extracted from the fruit of ''Synsepalum dulcificum''. The berry, also known as the miracle fruit, was documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais, who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa. Miraculin itself does not taste sweet. When taste buds are exposed to miraculin, the protein binds to the sweetness receptors. This causes normally sour-tasting acidic foods, such as citrus, to be perceived as sweet. The effect can last for one or two hours. History The sweetening properties of ''Synsepalum dulcificum'' berries were first noted by des Marchais during expeditions to West Africa in the 18th century. The term ''miraculin'' derived from experiments to isolate and purify the active glycoprotein that gave the berries their sweetening effects, results that were published simultaneously by Japanese and Dutch scientists working independently in the 1960s (the Dutch team cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stevia
Stevia () is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species ''Stevia rebaudiana'', native to Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), which have about 50 to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, are heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable. The human body does not metabolize the glycosides in stevia, so it contains zero calories as a non-nutritive sweetener. Stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and at high concentrations some of its extracts may have an aftertaste described as licorice-like or bitter. Stevia is used in sugar- and calorie-reduced food and beverage products as an alternative for variants with sugar. The legal status of stevia as a food additive or dietary supplement varies from country to country. In the United States, high-purity ''stevia glycoside'' extracts have been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) since 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
