Replicating the Taste of Sugar

Chemists have identified thousands of sweet-tasting organic compounds since the early 1800s. Most compounds are much more potent than the common carbohydrate (CHO) sweeteners and are generally referred to as high-potency (HP) sweeteners. The diversity of chemical structure among sweeteners has fascinated chemists for decades, and now, more than 50 structural classes of sweet-tasting organic compounds are known (Shallenberger 1993, DuBois et al., 2008). Few, however, are commercially viable.

To b…