| Abstract: | Although numerous experiments have demonstrated the sweetness-inhibitingeffects of Gymnema sylvestre extracts, no human psychophysicalstudies have been done to quantitatively assess G.sylvestre'seffects across a set of natural and intensive sweeteners. Thepresent study evaluated the sweetness-inhibiting effects ofG.sylvestre extracts on three concentrations each of acesulfameK, aspartame, sodium cyclamate, fructose, glucose, sucrose,stevioside and xylitol. Subjects made sweetness judgements ofthe stimuli following pretreatment with either distilled water,commercial tea or G.sylvestre extracts. Gymnema sylvestre pretreatmentreduced the sweetness of the stimuli by an average of 77% withno evidence for a differential effect across sweeteners. Thepercentage reduction in sweetness was constant across the low,medium and high concentrations of the sweeteners. Kinetic plotsof the data fit the Michelis-Menten model for non-competitiveinhibition, but statistical results did not permit competitiveor uncompetitive mechanisms to be ruled out. A receptor occupancy/blockingmechanism is unlikely. The results support disruption of a moregeneral aspect of sweetness transduction and fit a type of ‘mixed’inhibition involving an effect on the breakdown of the stimulus/receptorcomplex. Inhibition of a later step in a sequential-step transductionsystem and/or a change in the physicochemistry of the environmentof the stimulus/receptor complex are possible.
2Present address: Department of Chemistry, Clark University,Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
3Present address: Department of Psychology, University of Rochester,Rochester, NY 14627, USA |
