Correlation between in vitro binding activity of sweeteners to cloned human sweet taste receptor and sensory evaluation

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 EC(50)s. 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.