Sweetness Lab

August 25
Day of the Sweetness Lab

We examined the structures of carbohydrates at a molecular level, then hypothesized the possible sweetness "level" for each one, concluding the lab with a taste test.

It seems that monosaccharides are sweetest, with the exception of sucrose (a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose monomers is still very sweet)

Sucrose and fructose are common in our everyday life. Sucrose is table sugar and used as a sweetener for any food, while fructose occurs in all fruits and vegetables.

Ex Creds: The tongue tastes sweetness through interaction between the glucose or fructose monosaccharides and the protein TAS1R3 (taste receptor type 1, member 3) inside our mouths. The hydrogen atoms bonded on the ends of the saccharides align on the protein receptor, and this results in a stimulus applied to the cell. This interaction then causes the cell to send a signal through the nervous system and to the brain, which then manifests in a taste of sweetness. Depending on where we placed the sugar on our mouths, the taste of sweetness could be amplified or minimized. There are different regions for the sweetness receptor cells on our tongues, and thus there would be data discrepancy between the members of the group.

There is one source of error possible for this lab, being that the sweetness of each saccharide could be influenced by the taste of the one- or many- that came before it, causing a fluctuation in the recorded sweetness level. We were able to minimize this by going back and tasting the control sweetener (sucrose) before each sample, but there would still be slight effects.