PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SWEETENERS IN ARTIFICIAL SALIVA AND DETERMINATION OF A HYDROPHOBICITY SCALE FOR SOME SWEETENERS

Saliva, the first physiological secretion induced by ingestion of food or beverages, plays an extensive role in the oral cavity and in taste perception. The influence of salts and proteins (the major constituen ts of saliva) on physicochemical properties of sweeteners is studied. Previous findings on the effects of KCl, NaCl and MgCl2 on sweetener p roperties are now completed with the study of CaCl2. Ca2+ modifies the type of hydration of sugars and polyols and has a detergent effect on sweet solutions. As water structure is sensitive to the presence of s alts, physicochemical properties of sugars, polyols and intense sweete ners are determined in artificial saliva. Proteins also play a major p art in hydration and surface properties of stimuli in saliva. All phys icochemical properties determined in this work help in the mechanistic elucidation of sweet taste chemoreception. A scale of hydrophobicity is established for some sweeteners using partition coefficient and con tact angle measurements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.