BEHIND THE BITTERNESS AND BITTERNESS MASKING
The basic definition of Flavour is a combination of Smell and Taste. Smell comprises the aromatic volatiles present in food. Taste includes five primary attributes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. When we talk about taste, Bitterness and sourness are generally unpalatable, and hence, they are avoided. Apart from naturally present flavonoids, polyphenols and pharmaceutical agents taste bitter too. Bitter tastes are also generated during food processing involving fermentation and heating, like in cheese and roasted coffee beans, respectively.?
What is this Bitterness in some fruits and vegetables?
We often perceive Bitterness in green leafy vegetables, black tea, wine, cocoa, fruits, etc. This Bitterness comes from phytonutrients called FLAVONOIDS which are naturally present in plants. Flavonoids are recognized for their variable phenolic structures, which provide a significant bitter taste in fruits and vegetables. Thus, they are commonly consumed in our diets. At the molecular level, flavonoids are a 15-carbon structure consisting of two phenyl rings and a heterocyclic ring abbreviated as C6-C3-C6.?
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How to get rid of this Bitterness?
Several studies have been done in this context, and after briefly studying those, one can assume that fatty acids help in masking Bitterness. On a molecular basis, fatty acids interact directly with some bitter substances like Quinine through hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. These interactions play an important role in masking Bitterness by forming binary complexes which are insoluble and composed of bitter substances and fatty acids. After going through many theses and studies, it has been concluded that anything in nature with one or more Nitrogen atoms imparts a bitter taste. Hence, the N atom in the bitter substances and long chain fatty acids (LCFA) with 12 or more C atoms is necessary for forming binary complexes. The insoluble binary complexes help the bitter substances hold to fatty acids and suppress Bitterness in the solution, which is how fatty acids mask the Bitterness of bitter substances.
Article By Bharti Rawat , Flavourist at Norex Flavours Private Limited
Bharti Rawat It was a nice read about nich topic! ?? Just wish to add one thing that, Human tongue has more than 25 taste receptors [so far.. scientiest are expecting more to discover] to detect "bitterness" from any food that we are chewing, sipping or gulping; ever wondered why? Nature has given a safty mechanism to each living thing to protect themselves from getting killed [Camouflage] or falling sick by eating anything that is hazardous for health. Bitterness is generally associated with off taste in foods and these taste receptors pick them quicker than any other basic taste receptors on the tongue ??
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