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sweetness
Sign in to saveAlso known as sugary taste, sweet
right|thumb|Sweet foods, such as this strawberry [[shortcake, are often eaten for dessert.]] Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugar. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose and stevia. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness
Sweetness is a basic taste we experience primarily when eating foods containing sugar, though many other chemical compounds can also taste sweet and some are used as low-calorie sugar substitutes. Sweet tastes are generally considered pleasurable, which is why sweet foods like desserts are popular, though some compounds can even change how we perceive sweetness in other foods.
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~28 min read
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Origin and evolution
- Examples of sweet substances
- Sweetness modifiers
- Low-calorie and artificial sweeteners
- The sweetness receptor
- Post-ingestive signaling and the gut-brain pathway
- Artificial and low-calorie sweeteners
- Sweetness combined with fat
- Sweet receptor pathway
- Cognition
- Historical theories
- MPA theory
- Sweetness and food reward
- Individual variation in sweetness perception
- Culture
- Future directions in sweetness research
- See also
- References
- Cited
- General
- Further reading
right|thumb|Sweet foods, such as this strawberry [[shortcake, are often eaten for dessert.]] Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugar. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose and stevia. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness itself.
Sweetness is one of the five basic taste qualities and it mostly involves foods with sugars. It is known to be enjoyable and it is an important factor for food choices beyond cultures. Furthermore, sugars like sucrose, there are many other organic and inorganic compounds that bring out a sweet taste. This involves aldehydes, ketones, amino acids, and other artificial sweeteners. Sweetness recognition in our bodies takes part in an important role in energy control and evolutionary behavior.