A vast number of sweet tasting molecules are known, encompassing small compounds, carbohydrates, d-amino acids and large proteins. Carbohydrates play a particularly big role in human diet. The replacement of sugars in food with artificial sweeteners is common and is a general approach to prevent cavities, obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Knowledge about the molecular basis of taste may reveal new strategies to overcome diet-induced diseases. In this context, the design of safe, low-calorie sweeteners is particularly important. Here, we provide a comprehensive collection of carbohydrates, artificial sweeteners and other sweet tasting agents like proteins and peptides. Additionally, structural information and properties such as number of calories, therapeutic annotations and a sweetness-index are stored in SuperSweet. Currently, the database consists of more than 8000 sweet molecules. Moreover, the database provides a modeled 3D structure of the sweet taste receptor and binding poses of the small sweet molecules. These binding poses provide hints for the design of new sweeteners. A user-friendly graphical interface allows similarity searching, visualization of docked sweeteners into the receptor etc. A sweetener classification tree and browsing features allow quick requests to be made to the database. The database is freely available at: http://bioinformatics.charite.de/sweet/.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkq917 | DOI Listing |
GM Crops Food
December 2025
School of Life Science, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, People's Republic of China.
Malic acid markedly affects watermelon flavor. Reducing the malic acid content can significantly increase the sweetness of watermelon. An effective solution strategy is to reduce watermelon malic acid content through molecular breeding technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
January 2025
Department of Plant Products Technology and Nutrition Hygiene, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 21 Mickiewicz Av., 31-120 Krakow, Poland.
Background/objectives: In response to concerns about high-fat and low-fiber diets, this study modified a traditional brownie recipe by replacing butter with plant-based ingredients, including sweet potatoes, red beans, beetroot, zucchini, pumpkin, lentils, and spinach. The goal was to increase vegetable consumption while identifying the best vegetable fat replacer using sensory and instrumental analyses.
Methods: Chemical analyses were conducted to measure dry matter, protein, fat, ash, and dietary fiber, alongside texture, color, and sensory evaluations.
Foods
December 2024
College of Food Science and Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang 550005, China.
The effects of frying times (1, 2, 3, and 4 min) and temperatures (140, 160, 180, and 200 °C) were investigated on the nutritional components, color, texture, and volatile compounds of three varieties (808, 0912, and LM) from Guizhou, China. Increased frying time and temperature significantly reduced the moisture, polysaccharide, and protein contents, while increasing hardness and chewiness, and decreasing elasticity and extrusion resilience, negatively impacting overall quality. Optimal umami and sweet amino acid retention were achieved by frying at 160 °C frying for 1-3 min or 140-180 °C for 2 min.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropeptides
January 2025
The Dr. John and Anne Chong Laboratory for Functional Genomics, Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life & Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address:
Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are used to reduce caloric intake by replacing sugar with compounds that are sweet but contain little or no calories. In this study, we investigate how non-nutritive sweetener sucralose to promote acute food intake in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Our results showed that acute exposure to NNSs sweetness induces a robust hyperphagic response in flies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood Chem
January 2025
Anxi College of Tea Science, College of Horticulture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Tea Green Cultivation and Processing Collaborative Innovation Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China. Electronic address:
Rainy weather restricts the formation of high-quality Wuyi rock tea (WRT). Herein, an optimized withering process for rain-soaked leaves was developed using response surface methodology. Results showed that increasing the withering temperature, relative humidity, and withering time from 25 °C to 40 °C, 80 % to 97 %, and 3 to 6 h, respectively, effectively improved the sensory qualities of the optimized primary WRT (WRTO) prepared from rain-soaked leaves compared with those before optimization.
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