Five Representative Esters and Aldehydes from Fruits Can Enhance Sweet Perception

Abstract

Excessive sugar consumption has emerged as a widespread health concern over the world. Using aroma compounds could effectively reduce sugar content and enhance sweetness. In this study, the sweetening effect of 10 aroma compounds from representative fruits in five sucrose concentration solutions was explored. Then, the correlation between aroma attributes and the sweetening effect of the odorants was investigated specifically. Finally, the "aroma-nonnutritive sweetener (NNS)-sucrose " system was built, and the influence of NNS on odor-induced sweetness was evaluated. The results showed that 5 aroma compounds significantly promoted the sweetness perception. Among them, methyl 2-methylbutyrate, γ-decalactone, (Z)-6-non-6-enal, and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate showed significant sweetness enhancement in all sucrose solutions (p<0.05). When stevioside instead of 10% or 20% sucrose, the aroma showed the most significant sweetening effect in the ternary system, and the bitterness of stevioside could be covered. Meanwhile, the sweetening effect induced by four aroma substances in the erythritol-sucrose system was less significant than that of a single sucrose solution, only ethyl 2-methylbutyrate significantly heightened sweetness when 80% sucrose was replaced by erythritol. This study can broaden our understanding of sweetening aromas and provide a reference for the synergistic sweetening effect of aroma substances and NNS.

Keywords: sweetness enhancement, fruit aroma substance, sucrose concentration, NNS