title: Plant-derived sweetening agents: saccharide and polyol constituents of some sweet-tasting plants.
abstract: Samples of the sweet-tasting species Acanthospermum hispidum DC. (Compositae) (aerial parts), Boscia salicifolia Oliv. (Capparidaceae) (stem bark), Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Rhamnaceae) (peduncles) and Inga spectabilis Willd. (Leguminosae) (arils) were acquired as part of a continuing search for high-intensity natural sweeteners of plant origin. Following their preliminary safety evaluation, the sweetness of these plants was traced to large amounts of sugars and polyols by taste-guided fractionation, which were identified and quantified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The combined yields of sugars and polyols in the A. hispidum, B. salicifolia, H. dulcis, and I. spectabilis samples investigated were 6.9, 10.1, 18.4 and 12.1% w/w, respectively. These yields are much higher than the total saccharide and polyol content (2.4% w/w) of the sweet dried fruits of Thladiantha grosvenorii (Swingle) C. Jeffrey (Cucurbitaceae), a species which has previously been reported to contain more than 1% w/w of the intensely sweet triterpene, mogroside V. The dried leaves of Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L'Hérit. (Symplocaceae), which were not appreciably sweet, were found to contain only 2.0% w/w of sugars. The results of this investigation, therefore, suggest that unless the saccharide and/or polyol content of a plant part is well over 5% w/w, then it is unlikely to exhibit an overtly sweet taste, unless an intense sweetener is present.
authors.affiliation: Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago 60612.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Poveda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bordas
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pezzuto
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Soejarto
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kinghorn
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009153:Mutagens; D010944:Plants / Q000032:analysis*; D012997:Solvents; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D002241:Carbohydrates; D009153:Mutagens; D012997:Solvents; D013549:Sweetening Agents