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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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumatin Crystal Grown In Microgravity
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 doma ... [...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 su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathogenesis-related (PR) Proteins
Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are proteins produced in plants in the event of a pathogen attack. They are induced as part of systemic acquired resistance. Infections activate genes that produce PR proteins. Some of these proteins are antimicrobial, attacking molecules in the cell wall of a bacterium or fungus. Others may function as signals that spread “news” of the infection to nearby cells. Infections also stimulate the cross-linking of molecules in the cell wall and the deposition of lignin, responses that set up a local barricade that slows spread of the pathogen to other parts of the plant. Salicylic acid plays a role in the resistance to pathogens by inducing the production of pathogenesis-related proteins. Many proteins found in wine are grape pathogen-related proteins. Those include thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases. Many pathogenesis-related protein families also coincide with groups of human allergens, even though the allergy may have nothing to do with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miraculin
Miraculin is a 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 called the glycopro ... [...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 LVK ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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 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 17-residue alpha-helix. In its natural form, monellin is composed of the two chains sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katemfe
''Thaumatococcus daniellii'' is a plant species from Africa, known for being the natural source of thaumatin, an intensely sweet protein which is of interest in the development of sweeteners. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing a sweet sensation that slowly builds and leaves a lingering aftertaste. It is a large, rhizomatous, flowering herb native to the rainforests of western Africa from Sierra Leone to Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also an introduced species in Australia and Singapore. ''Thaumatococcus daniellii'' grows three to four meters in height, and has large, papery leaves up to 46 centimeters long. It bears pale purple flowers and a soft fruit containing a few shiny black seeds. The fruit is covered in a fleshy red aril, which is the part that contains thaumatin. In its native range, the plant has a number of uses besides flavoring. The sturdy leaf petioles are used as tools and building material ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumatococcus Daniellii
''Thaumatococcus daniellii'' is a plant species from Africa, known for being the natural source of thaumatin, an intensely sweet protein which is of interest in the development of sweeteners. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing a sweet sensation that slowly builds and leaves a lingering aftertaste. It is a large, rhizomatous, flowering herb native to the rainforests of western Africa from Sierra Leone to Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also an introduced species in Australia and Singapore. ''Thaumatococcus daniellii'' grows three to four meters in height, and has large, papery leaves up to 46 centimeters long. It bears pale purple flowers and a soft fruit containing a few shiny black seeds. The fruit is covered in a fleshy red aril, which is the part that contains thaumatin. In its native range, the plant has a number of uses besides flavoring. The sturdy leaf petioles are used as tools and building materi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweetness
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin and aspartame. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness itself. The perceived intensity of sugars and high-potency sweeteners, such as Aspartame and Neohesperidin Dihydrochalcone, are heritable, with gene effect accounting for approximately 30% of the variation. The chemosensory basis for detecting sweetness, which varies between both individuals and species, has only begun to be understood since the late 20th century. One theoretical model of sweetness is the multipoint attachment theory, which involves multiple binding sites between a sweetne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liquorice
Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liquorice plant is an herbaceous perennial legume native to Western Asia, North Africa, and Southern Europe. Botanically, it is not closely related to anise or fennel, which are sources of similar flavouring compounds. (Another such source, star anise, is even more distantly related from anise and fennel than liquorice, despite its similar common name.) Liquorice is used as a flavouring in candies and tobacco, particularly in some European and West Asian countries. Liquorice extracts have been used in herbalism and traditional medicine. Excessive consumption of liquorice (more than per day of pure glycyrrhizinic acid, a liquorice component) may result in adverse effects, and overconsumption should be suspected clinically in patients presenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been described as a ''sui generis'' political entity (without precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Containing 5.8per cent of the world population in 2020, the EU generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around trillion in 2021, constituting approximately 18per cent of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states but Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. Its cornerstone, the European Union Customs Union, Customs Union, paved the way to establishing European Single Market, an internal single market based on standardised European Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TAS1R3
Taste receptor type 1 member 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TAS1R3'' gene. The ''TAS1R3'' gene encodes the human homolog of mouse Sac taste receptor, a major determinant of differences between sweet-sensitive and -insensitive mouse strains in their responsiveness to sucrose, saccharin, and other sweeteners. Structure The protein encoded by the ''TAS1R3'' gene is a G protein-coupled receptor with seven trans-membrane domains and is a component of the heterodimeric amino acid taste receptor TAS1R1+3 and sweet taste receptor TAS1R2+3. This receptor is formed as a protein dimer with either TAS1R1 or TAS1R2. Experiments have also shown that a homo-dimer of TAS1R3 is also sensitive to natural sugar substances. This has been hypothesized as the mechanism by which sugar substitutes do not have the same taste qualities as natural sugars. Ligands The G protein-coupled receptors for sweet and umami taste are formed by dimers of the TAS1R proteins. The TAS1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
