Ziziphin

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Ziziphin
Ziziphin.png
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
PubChem CID
Properties
C51H80O18
Molar mass 981.17 g/mol
Density 1.345 g/cm3
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Infobox references

Ziziphin, a triterpene glycoside which exhibits taste-modifying properties, has been isolated from the leaves of Ziziphus jujuba ( Rhamnaceae ).

Triterpene any unsaturated hydrocarbon with structure that is a result of the assembling of six isoprene units

Triterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of three terpene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of six isoprene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the precursor to all steroids.

Glycoside molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group

In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of Heliconius butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body.

Rhamnaceae family of plants

Rhamnaceae is a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales.

Among ziziphin's known homologues found in this plant, it is the most anti-sweet. However, its anti-sweet activity is less effective than gymnemic acid 1, another anti-sweet compound glycoside isolated from the leaves of Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae). [1]

Gymnemic acids are a class of chemical compounds isolated from the leaves of Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae). They are anti-sweet compounds, or sweetness inhibitors. After chewing the leaves, solutions sweetened with sugar taste like water.

<i>Gymnema sylvestre</i> species of plant

Gymnema sylvestre is a perennial woody vine that grows in tropical areas of India, Africa, and Australia and has been used for medicinal purposes in Ayurvedic medicine. Common names include gymnema, Australian cowplant, and Periploca of the woods, and the Hindi term gurmar which means "sugar destroyer".

Asclepiadoideae subfamily of plants

According to APG II, the Asclepiadaceae, commonly known as milkweed family, is a former plant family now treated as a subfamily in the Apocynaceae.

Ziziphin reduces perceived sweetness of most of the carbohydrates (e.g. glucose, fructose), bulk sweeteners, intense sweeteners (natural: steviol glycoside – artificial: sodium saccharin and aspartame) and sweet amino acids (e.g. glycine). However, it has no effect on the perception of the other tastes, bitterness, sourness and saltiness. [2]

Glucose A simple form of sugar

Glucose (also called dextrose) is a simple sugar with the molecular formula C6H12O6. Glucose is the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using energy from sunlight. There it is used to make cellulose in cell walls, which is the most abundant carbohydrate. In energy metabolism, glucose is the most important source of energy in all organisms. Glucose for metabolism is partially stored as a polymer, in plants mainly as starch and amylopectin and in animals as glycogen. Glucose circulates in the blood of animals as blood sugar. The naturally occurring form of glucose is D-glucose, while L-glucose is produced synthetically in comparably small amounts and is of lesser importance.

Fructose A simple ketonic monosaccharide found in many plants

Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple ketonic monosaccharide found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into blood during digestion. Fructose was discovered by French chemist Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut in 1847. The name "fructose" was coined in 1857 by the English chemist William Allen Miller. Pure, dry fructose is a sweet, white, odorless, crystalline solid, and is the most water-soluble of all the sugars. Fructose is found in honey, tree and vine fruits, flowers, berries, and most root vegetables.

Steviol glycoside sweet chemicals derived from the Stevia plant

Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients of many sweeteners marketed under the generic name stevia and several trade names. They also occur in the related species Stevia phlebophylla and in the plant Rubus chingii (Rosaceae).

See also

Related Research Articles

Stevia sweetener

Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana, native to Brazil and Paraguay. The active compounds are steviol glycosides, which have 30 to 150 times the sweetness of sugar, are heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable. The body does not metabolize the glycosides in stevia and therefore it contains 0 calories like some artificial sweeteners. Stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

Sugar substitute sweetener that contains significantly less food energy than sugar

A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweet taste like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. As of 2018, there is no strong evidence that non-sugar sweeteners are unsafe or result in improved health outcomes.

Thaumatin InterPro Family

Thaumatin is a low-calorie sweetener and flavour modifier. The protein is often used primarily for its flavour-modifying properties and not exclusively as a sweetener.

Saccharin chemical compound

Sodium saccharin is an artificial sweetener with effectively no food energy. It is about 300–400 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is used to sweeten products such as drinks, candies, cookies, and medicines.

Monellin chemical compound

Monellin, a sweet protein, was discovered in 1969 in the fruit of the West African shrub known as serendipity berry ; it was first reported as a carbohydrate. The protein was named in 1972 after the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, U.S.A., where it was isolated and characterized.

<i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> species of the genus Stevia

Stevia rebaudiana is a plant species in the genus Stevia of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), commonly known as candyleaf, sweetleaf, sweet leaf, or sugarleaf.

Miraculin chemical compound

Miraculin is a taste modifier, a glycoprotein extracted from the fruit of Synsepalum dulcificum. The berry, also known as the miracle fruit, was documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais, who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa.

Lactisole chemical compound

Lactisole is a carboxylic acid salt. Like gymnemic acid, it is a sweet inhibitor or taste modifier.

Sweetness Basic taste

Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are regarded as a pleasurable experience, except perhaps in excess.

Enoxolone chemical compound

Enoxolone is a pentacyclic triterpenoid derivative of the beta-amyrin type obtained from the hydrolysis of glycyrrhizic acid, which was obtained from the herb liquorice. It is used in flavoring and it masks the bitter taste of drugs like aloe and quinine. It is effective in the treatment of peptic ulcer and also has expectorant (antitussive) properties. It has some additional pharmacological properties including antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoal, and antibacterial activities.

Brazzein

Brazzein is a sweet-tasting protein extracted from the West African fruit of the climbing plant Oubli. It was first isolated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994.

Curculin chemical compound

Curculin is a sweet protein that was discovered and isolated in 1990 from the fruit of Curculigo latifolia (Hypoxidaceae), a plant from Malaysia. Like miraculin, curculin exhibits taste-modifying activity; however, unlike miraculin, it also exhibits a sweet taste by itself. After consumption of curculin, water and sour solutions taste sweet. The plant is referred to locally as 'Lumbah' or 'Lemba'.

Hodulcine are glycosides which are isolated from the leaves of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Rhamnaceae) also known as Japanese Raisin Tree.
Several glycosides homologue have been found in this plant and although hoduloside 1 exhibits the highest anti-sweet activity, it is less potent than gymnemic acid 1.

<i>Pentadiplandra</i> species of plant

Pentadiplandra brazzeana is an evergreen shrub or liana that is the only species assigned to the genus Pentadiplandra, and has been placed in a family of its own called Pentadiplandraceae. It produces large red berries, sometimes mottled with grey. It is known from West-Central Tropical Africa, between northern Angola, eastern Nigeria and western Democratic Republic of Congo. The berry is sweet in taste due to the protein, brazzein, which is substantially sweeter than saccharose. Brazzein may be useful as a low-calorie sweetener, but is not yet allowed as a food additive in the United States and the European Union.

TAS1R2 protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Taste receptor type 1 member 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS1R2 gene.

TAS1R3 protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Taste receptor type 1 member 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS1R3 gene. The TAS1R3 gene encodes the human homolog of mouse Sac taste receptor, a major determinant of differences between sweet-sensitive and -insensitive mouse strains in their responsiveness to sucrose, saccharin, and other sweeteners.

<i>Thaumatococcus daniellii</i> species of plant

Thaumatococcus daniellii is a plant species from Africa, known for being the natural source of thaumatin, an intensely sweet protein which is of interest in the development of sweeteners. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. It is a large, rhizomatous, flowering herb native to the rainforests of western Africa from Sierra Leone to Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also an introduced species in Australia and Singapore.

References

  1. Kinghorn, A.D. and Compadre, C.M. Alternative Sweeteners: Third Edition, Revised and Expanded, Marcel Dekker ed., New York, 2001. ISBN   0-8247-0437-1
  2. Kurihara, Y. (1992). "Characteristics of antisweet substances, sweet proteins, and sweetness-inducing proteins". Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 32 (3): 231–252. doi:10.1080/10408399209527598. PMID   1418601.