Effect of subthreshold concentrations of limonin,naringin and sweeteners on bitterness perception

A sensory panel of experienced judges was used to determine taste thresholds of mixtures of limonin and naringin and various sweeteners. Data from these experiments showed that within the 95% confidence interval, subthreshold interactions between limonin and naringin were additive, indicating that less than threshold amounts of these compounds contributed to bitterness of a mixture. Mixtures of hesperetin dihydrochalcone glucoside (HDG), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHD), naringin dihydrochalcone (ND), sucrose and naringin were neither additive nor synergistic at subthreshold concentrations. At suprathreshold levels, sucrose, (HDG) and (NHD) were effective in suppressing naringin bitterness, but (ND) was not.