One of the biggest problems in medicine, food, and beverages is the struggle with bitter taste. Previous research focused on reducing the bitter taste in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, functional studies have recently been conducted to eliminate the bitter and astringent taste in the food and beverage industry.

Recently, many molecules have been recorded for the inhibition of bitter taste. In this article, we will focus on the molecules that can be used to mask the bitter taste.

Bitter taste has negative effects on hedonic swallowing. However, consumers prefer the presence of a bitter taste in food and beverages only in very rare cases.

Caffeine's Bitterness Activity

The activity of bitter caffeine has difficulty identifying T2R. For this reason, there are some thoughts that it can be detected with PDE (Phosphodiesterase). To date, no bitter receptor is known in mammals.

There are a few methods to suppress bitter taste transduction in caffeine. These include: modulators of the T2R binding site that can complex or scavenge bitterants, and affecting neurotransmitter release, binding, or reuptake.

Some Substances That Give a Bitter Taste

Caffeine
Quinine
Epigallocatechin Gallate
Acetaminophen/Paracetamol
Denatonium Benzoate
Salicine
Limonin
Neohesperidin
Cis-Isohumolone
Amarogentin
H-L-Leu-L-Trp-OH

Among these, the substance with the most bitter taste is denatonium benzoate.

Chemicals Used to Mask Bitter Taste

Grapefruit flavors are generally used to mask the bitter taste found in active pharmaceutical ingredients. In cola-style beverages, sucrose and sweeteners are used to eliminate the bitter taste. This way, the bitter taste in cola is not noticed by consumers.

Another classic method is carried out with the use of sodium salts. Chemicals with low salinity, such as gluconates and acetates, have the most ideal properties for masking bitter taste.

These are;

Sodium Gluconate
Ethyl Acetate
Butyl Acetate

In tablets, the bitter taste of caffeine can be eliminated by using umami/sweet mixtures of erythritol-CaHPO4, L-Glutamic Acid, Inosinic Acid, and 5-ribonucleotides. Instead of L-Glutamic Acid, the bitter taste of Caffeine can be masked with the dissolved form of Monosodium Glutamate in water.

Often, using high amounts of sweeteners is not enough to suppress bitter tastes. The effects of the masking agents here stem from psychophysical effects that suppress the taste through camouflage. In most applications, the use of strong sweeteners is unacceptable. For example, it is not possible to use sodium salts in sweet-form beverages.