CD Laboratory for Taste Research

The excessive consumption of sugary foods is a major cause of the increasing prevalence of obesity. This CD Laboratory researches alternative sweeteners, their flavour profile and their effect on metabolism.

The worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity and their secondary diseases such as coronary heart disease and a disturbed lipid and/or glucose metabolism have reached epidemic proportions over the last few decades. In Austria, too, more than 40% of adults are now overweight or obese. The fundamental cause of weight gain is an imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended: an inactive lifestyle combined with excessive energy intake are evidence-based factors in the development of obesity. Sweetened beverages with calorific sweeteners contribute a large proportion of total calorie intake. One way to avoid the problem of increased energy intake from sweetened foods and drinks is to use so-called "light" products. These use sweeteners with no calorific value (so-called high intensity sweeteners, HIS) or those with only a very low calorific value (e.g. sugar alcohols) as an alternative to sugar. Although all these substances taste sweet, there are differences in their sensory profile. Some sweeteners have a metallic or bitter aftertaste, others have a long-lasting aftertaste. There are also differences in how long it takes for the sweet flavour to set in, how long it lasts and how long it lasts. Basically, sweet taste is mediated by the sweet receptor, T1R2/T1R3, which is not only found on the tongue, but also in the digestive system, on fat cells and other organs. Differences in the sensory profile could be caused by differences in receptor binding and activation of other receptors and ion channels. However, a clear structure-activity relationship and suitable models for predicting a sweet taste or an effect modulating the sweet taste with a similar profile to sugar do not yet exist. Furthermore, there are indications that oral and extraoral sweet receptors may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and that non-sugar sweeteners are not inert substances in this context, but could very well interfere with lipid and glucose metabolism.

Through a combined approach of sensory, computational and molecular biological methods as well as human studies, the CD Laboratory for Taste Research aims to establish a structure-activity relationship for substances that are relevant for sweet perception and to investigate their effects on various cell systems beyond sweet perception.