Off-note blocking carboxylic acids for sweetener taste masking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing consumables often exhibit undesirable off-notes, such as bitterness, metallic tastes, and astringency, which can be unpleasant and affect consumer perception, particularly with artificial sweeteners and certain natural ingredients.
Innovation Solution
The use of specific off-note blocking compounds, such as cis-4-propylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid and cis-4-tert-butylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid, which are added to consumables to mask or block these undesirable taste notes by inhibiting bitter taste receptors, thereby improving the taste profile.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If artificial sweeteners are used to reduce sugar content, then caloric intake is reduced, but undesirable off-notes such as bitterness and metallic tastes appear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs off-note blocking compounds as intermediary substances that mediate between the artificial sweetener and the taste receptors. These compounds specifically bind to bitter and metallic taste receptors, preventing the off-notes from being perceived while allowing the sweet taste to pass through unaffected. This resolves the contradiction by introducing a mediator that selectively blocks harmful taste signals without interfering with the desired sweet taste or the caloric reduction benefit.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful off-notes into a benefit by using the blocking compounds to selectively inhibit only the bitter and metallic taste pathways. This allows the artificial sweetener to maintain its primary beneficial function (caloric reduction) while the harmful side effect (off-notes) is transformed into a controlled interaction where the blocking compounds specifically target and neutralize only the undesirable taste components without affecting the sweet taste.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If off-note blocking compounds are added to mask undesirable tastes, then taste profile is improved, but product complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by carefully controlling the concentration ratios between off-note blocking compounds and artificial sweeteners. By optimizing these parameters, the formulation achieves effective off-note blocking at minimal compound levels, thereby improving taste profile without proportionally increasing product complexity. The specific parameter optimization ensures that only trace amounts of blocking compounds are needed to achieve the desired taste modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The off-note blocking compounds serve multiple functions simultaneously: they block bitter taste receptors, block metallic taste receptors, and allow sweet taste transmission. This multi-functionality means that a single additive component addresses multiple taste issues (bitterness and metallic notes) that would otherwise require separate solutions, thereby improving the taste profile without proportionally increasing product complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are compounds that block off-notes in consumables and methods of blocking off-notes in consumables including off-notes provided by sweeteners such as stevioside, swingle extract, glyccerhizin, perillartine, naringin dihydrochalcone, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, mogroside V, rubusoside, rubus extract, and rebaudioside A, and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K (Acesulfame potassium), sucralose and cyclamate.