Correlation between in vitro binding activity of sweeteners to cloned human sweet taste receptor and sensory evaluation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Psychophysical Tracking Method to Measure Taste Preferences in Children and Adults
Published on: July 16, 2016
Yoonha Choi1, John A Manthey2, Tai Hyun Park3,4
1Department of Nutritional Science and Food Management, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760 Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
The human sweet taste receptor is a TAS1R2/TAS1R3 heterodimer. To investigate the correlation between the in vitro affinity of sweeteners with stably expressed human sweet taste receptor in HEK-293 cells and human sensory evaluation, the receptor-ligand activity of bulk (sucrose, D-fructose, and allulose) and high-intensity sweeteners (saccharin, rebaudioside A, rebaudioside M, and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone) was compared by analyzing the Ca2+ release. The relative potency of the sweeteners was identified over a wide concentration range for EC50s. Relative to sucrose, bulk sweeteners showed similar concentration ranges and potency, whereas high-intensity sweeteners exhibited lower concentration ranges and higher potency. The log of the calculated EC50 of each sweetener relative to sucrose by the in vitro affinity assay was positively correlated (r = 0.9943) with the molar relative sweetness reported in the previous literatures. These results suggested a good correlation between the in vitro activity assay of sweeteners and human sensory evaluation.
Related Concept Videos
The Physiology of Taste
Gustation
Taste Buds and Receptors
Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
Drug Product Performance: In Vitro–In Vivo Correlation

