So it's probably the actions
of cyclamate at saccharin's bitter receptors that help block the bitterness, Behrens and his colleagues report September 14 in Cell Chemical Biology.
Not exact matches
Previous studies
of the two sweeteners had shown that saccharin alone activates the subtypes TAS2R31 and TAS2R43, and
cyclamate tickles TAS2R1 and TAS2R38.
In this case, though, the amount
of saccharin required to block the receptors that
cyclamate activates would have bitter effects on its own.
But in further tests, Behrens and his colleagues showed that, no, the sweet sides
of saccharin and
cyclamate stayed the same in combination.
The reverse was true, too: Saccharin blocked TAS2R1 — one
of the bitter receptors that
cyclamate activates.
Behrens and his colleagues Kristina Blank and Wolfgang Meyerhof developed a way to screen which
of the bitter taste receptors that saccharin and
cyclamate were hitting, to figure out why the combination is more palatable than either one alone.
Blends
of non-caloric sweeteners saccharin and
cyclamate show reduced off - taste due to TAS2R bitter receptor inhibition.
That's one
of the bitter receptors that
cyclamate turns on.
Because
of potential health concerns,
cyclamate is currently banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for consumption...