Homoeriodictyol is a bitter-masking flavanone extracted from Yerba Santa (''

Eriodictyon californicum ''Eriodictyon californicum'' is a species of plant within the family Boraginaceae. It is also known as yerba santa (sacred herb), mountain balm, bear's weed, gum bush, gum plant, and consumptive weed.Patricia Kaminski and Richard Katz.Yerba Santa ...

'') a plant growing in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Homoeriodictyol (3`-methoxy-4`,5,7-trihydroxyflavanone) is one of the 4 flavanones identified by

Symrise Symrise AG is a major producer of flavours and fragrances with sales of €3.154 billion in 2018. Major competitors include Döhler, Firmenich, Givaudan, International Flavors and Fragrances, and Takasago International. Symrise is a member of th ...

in this plant eliciting taste-modifying property: homoeriodictyol sodium salt,

eriodictyol Eriodictyol is a bitter-masking flavanone, a flavonoid extracted from yerba santa (''Eriodictyon californicum''), a plant native to North America. Eriodictyol is one of the four flavanones identified in this plant as having taste-modifying prope ...

and

sterubin Sterubin (7-methoxy-3',4',5-trihydroxyflavanone) is a bitter-masking flavanone extracted from Yerba Santa (''Eriodictyon californicum'') a plant growing in America. Sterubin is one of the four flavanones identified by Symrise in this plant which ...

. Homoeriodictyol Sodium salt elicited the most potent bitter-masking activity by reducing from 10 to 40% the bitterness of salicin,

amarogentin Amarogentin is a chemical compound found in gentian (''Gentiana lutea'') or in '' Swertia chirata''. Gentian root has a long history of use as a herbal bitter in the treatment of digestive disorders and is an ingredient of many proprietary medi ...

, paracetamol and quinine. However no bitter-masking activity was detected with bitter

linoleic acid Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula COOH(CH2)7CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)4CH3. Both alkene groups are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n-6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid. L ...

emulsions. According to Symrise's scientists homoeriodictyol sodium salt seems to be a taste-modifier with large potential in food applications and pharmaceuticals. Structural relatives investigation based on eriodictyol and homoeriodictyol, found 2,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid vanillylamide to elicits bitter-masking activity. At 0.1g/L, this

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now used ...

derivative, was able to reduce the bitterness of a 0.5g/L caffeine solution by about 30%.

References

{{Flavanone O-methylated flavanones Bitter-masking compounds Taste modifiers Physiology Resorcinols