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Glycyrrhetic acid monoglucuronide: sweetness concentration–response and molecular mechanism as a naturally high-potency sweetener

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Abstract

Glycyrrhetic acid monoglucuronide (GAM) is obtained from the natural sweetener glycyrrhizin through enzymolysis. Its sweetness concentration–response (C–R) behavior in room-temperature in water was determined using two-alternative forced choice discrimination tests. The C–R equation of resultant hyperbolic curve relating sucrose equivalent (SE, %) to GAM concentration ([GAM], mg/L) was SE = 19.6 × [GAM]/(194.8 + [GAM]). From the C–R function, Pw (2) of GAM, relative to a 2% (w/v) sucrose reference, is more than 900, which has much higher potency than its precursor glycyrrhizin. Molecular modeling showed that GAM is finely bound into protein 1EWK through conventional hydrogen bonds, π-Alkyl interactions and Van der Waals bonds, which exhibited better protein inclusion than Glycyrrhizin. Thus, GAM could be developed as a new zero-calorie, naturally high-potency sweetener.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant [BK20160570].

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Correspondence to Wenjian Tang.

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Yang, Y., Wei, Y., Guo, X. et al. Glycyrrhetic acid monoglucuronide: sweetness concentration–response and molecular mechanism as a naturally high-potency sweetener. Food Sci Biotechnol 28, 1187–1193 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-019-00559-y

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