Abstract
IN an attempt to identify the feature common to various and seemingly unrelated compounds which taste sweet, we suggested1 that the saporous unit of all sweet tasting compounds was a bifunctional group consisting of an acidic (AH) and a basic (B) moiety with an A—H proton to B distance of about 3 Å. The common unit described seems to be very similar to that proposed by Warfield2, in which the common molecular feature was visualized as a “taste couple” composed of a proton and a neighbouring, unshared electron pair.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Shallenberger, R. S., and Acree, T. E., Nature, 216, 480 (1967).
Warfield, R. B., Abstr. Papers 126th Meet. Amer. Chem. Soc., 15A (1954).
Pimentel, G. C., and McClellan, A. L., The Hydrogen Bond (W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 1960).
Solms, J., Vuataz, L., and Egli, R. H., Experientia, 21, 692 (1965).
Kaneko, T., J. Chem. Soc. (Japan), 59, 433 (1938).
Kaneko, T., J. Chem. Soc. (Japan), 60, 531 (1939).
Berg, C. P., Physiol. Rev., 33, 145 (1953).
Boyd, W. C., and Matsubara, S., Science, 137, 669 (1962).
Shallenberger, R. S., Acree, T. E., and Guild, W. E., J. Food Sci., 30, 560 (1965).
Wolfrom, M. L., and Thompson, A. J., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 68, 791 (1946).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SHALLENBERGER, R., ACREE, T. & LEE, C. Sweet Taste of D and L-Sugars and Amino-acids and the Steric Nature of their Chemo-receptor Site. Nature 221, 555–556 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221555a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221555a0
This article is cited by
-
Volumetric and Acoustic Behavior of Sodium Cyclamate in Aqueous System from 293.15 K to 318.15 K
Journal of Solution Chemistry (2016)
-
Gustatory sensation of l- and d-amino acids in humans
Amino Acids (2012)
-
Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Sweetness
Chemosensory Perception (2008)
-
N-Acylation of stimulatory amino acids changes chiral recognition of the fleshfly labellar sugar receptor
Journal of Comparative Physiology A (1989)
-
Amino acid chemoreception: Effects of ph on receptors and stimuli
Journal of Chemical Ecology (1988)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.