BIOMIMETIC SUPRAMOLECULAR BIOPHENOL-CARBOHYDRATE AND BIOPHENOL-PROTEIN MODELS BY NMR EXPERIMENTS

functions and influence the taste sensorial perception The taste pheno menon involves the establishment of a multiple reversible equilibrium of supramolecular formation among molecular components. The complex ta ste process has been evaluated by NMR biomimetic experiments performed in abiotic conditions. 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, a model compou nd, was investigated by NMR titration with caffeine and P-cyclodextrin , respectively. The kinetics and energetics of the process show that t he supramolecular interactions, Controlled by weak forces occurring at short distance, increase according to the order beta-cyclodextrin > c affeine, suggesting that polysaccharides could play a fundamental role in the mechanism that controls the taste perception.