Frontiers in Nutrition (May 2023)

Bitterness quantification and simulated taste mechanism of theasinensin A from tea

  • Jian-yong Zhang,
  • Hong-chun Cui,
  • Zhi-hui Feng,
  • Wei-wei Wang,
  • Yun Zhao,
  • Yu-liang Deng,
  • He-yuan Jiang,
  • Jun-feng Yin,
  • Ulrich H. Engelhardt

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1138023
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

Read online

Theasinensin A is an important quality chemical component in tea, but its taste characteristics and the related mechanism are still unclear. The bitterness quantification and simulated taste mechanism of theasinensin A were researched. The results showed that theasinensin A was significantly correlated with the bitterness of tea. The bitterness threshold of theasinensin A was identified as 65 μmol/L for the first time. The dose-over-threshold (DOT) value of theasinensin A was significantly higher than that of caffeine in black tea soup. The concentration-bitterness curve and time-intensity curve of theasinensin A were constructed. The bitterness contribution of theasinensin A in black tea was higher than in oolong and green tea. Theasinensin A had the highest affinity with bitterness receptor protein TAS2R16, which was compared to TAS2R13 and TAS2R14. Theasinensin A was mainly bound to a half-open cavity at the N-terminal of TAS2R13, TAS2R14, and TAS2R16. The different binding capacity, hydrogen bond, and hydrophobic accumulation effect of theasinensin A and bitterness receptor proteins might be the reason why theasinensin A presented different bitterness senses in human oral cavity.

Keywords