Sweet, sour, bitter and astringent are the taste attributes of plant products. Sweetness is a property of organic acids. The primary functions of sugar in food products are to provide sweetness and energy.
Sugar has a uniquely clean sweetness that is entirely free from off-taste or aftertaste. Ripeness and maturity are the key factors that influence the taste of a fruit. Fruit ripening is a complex process influenced by several factors. The changes in composition of sugars and organic acids and volatile compounds during ripening process play a key role in flavor development and can affect the chemical and sensory characteristics (e.g., pH, total acidity, microbial stability, sweetness) of fruit.
Tasting something sweet leads to the activation of pleasure-generating brain circuitry. Subjective factors such as appearance and colour can also affect the sensation of taste. In order for a substance to taste sweet, it must be water-soluble and its concentration must exceed the taste threshold. In the context of food, sweeteners are often present in concentrations well above the threshold value.
Sweetness in many fruit and vegetables is a desirable attribute that is often governed, in part, by sugar concentration. Soluble sugars, mostly comprised of glucose, fructose and sucrose, may be determined using refractometry or colorimetry. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the mostly used technique for analysis of individual compounds.
Taste of sweetness
