Question

NutraSweet (aspartame) is not a carbohydrate but rather a modified dipeptide. What is the biochemical explanation for why this molecule is 500 times sweeter in human taste tests than the monosaccharide galactose?

Glycolytic Pathway

Answer 1

The artificial sweeteners are sweet but offer no calories. So they are quite happily used by people across the world. But how do they taste sweet is an active area of research. Sweetners do not enter the classical glycolysis pathway not ETC. They are metabolised into amino acids, methanol and other organic compounds which have no calorific value in body,

The idea of sweetness or bitterness comes forms the taste receptors present on the taste buds on the upper tongue. The signal is sent to brain and brain then interprets the taste depending on the receptor which had sent the signal. There are taste receptors called T1R2 and T1R3 subunits of G proteins. These receptors if activated by sweetener can induce the sweet taste. The stronger the binding with receptor stronger is the sweetness. The aspartame and other amino acid based sweetness can strongly bind out the grove in the taste bud subunits and elicit neural response.