Modifying Bitterness: Mechanism, Ingredients, and Applications

Only recently has bitterness control become of commercial importance to a food or pharmaceutical formulation chemist. Over the years, an increasing interest in more palatable food and beverage products with low fat and low sugar content has arisen, thus creating a market need for the control of bitterness perception. This is the first, comprehensive treatment of this subject in book form. Organized primarily by ingredients or processing approaches affecting the bitter taste reduction or inhibition, this thorough review includes an in-depth and thoroughly referenced review of mechanisms, ingredients and applications of bitter taste reduction or inhibition.

As the son of a German-bred, chemist-turned-perfumer for a time, Glenn Roy began training in the science of flavors and fragrances in1971 with Tombarel Freres in Grasse, France. As a field laborer from before sunrise to noon, he harvested botanic raw materials and processed them to produce essential oils and absolutes. Perfumery studies continued as part-time employment with Givaudan Corp. and Roure, Bertrand, Dupont,Inc., both in New Jersey. In 1975 he graduated with a BA in Chemistry from St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont. There, Mr. Roy researched and published, with the late Dr. Gilbert Grady, a new method for the purification of eucalyptol 1,8-cineole from its olfactorily undesirable 1,4-isomer. Subsequently, he graduated with MS (1977) and Ph.D. (1980) degrees in Organic Chemistry from study and research at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, under Dr. Philip D. Magnus, Royal Chemistry Society Fellow. A group discovery of new organosilicon reagent methodology was illustrated in the syntheses of Frontal in, a beetle pheromone and Latia Lucifem, a firefly lumine science principle. The organosilicon reagents are now commercially available from Petrarch Co. In 1980 Dr. Roy entered a career in the food industry. Six years of research were conducted in flavor generation and synthesis of high potency sweeteners and taste modifiers at (then) General Foods Corp. (Tarrytown, NY). In 1986 an opportunity arose to pursue research at The NutrasweetCo. (Mt. Prospect, IL) in the area of nonfermentable noncaloric sugars and fat macronutrient substitutes. Additional research in taste modification resulted in the discovery of bitterness inhibitors. The impending breakup of The NutraSweet Co. R&D with patent expiration prompted a move in 1990 to a managerial position in Food Processing Technical Services with Calgon Carbon Corp. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, Dr. Roy authored a book on activated carbon processing and ap­plications for the food and pharmaceutical industries which was published by Technomic Publishing Co., Inc. and was granted a U.S. patent for a continuous food-frying oil treatment to reduce color and polymer forma­tion. The process is to be commercialized when regulations for oil con­taminants emerge. In November 1994, the annual corporate downsizing of Calgon Carbon Corp. resulted in unemployment. In April 1995, Glenn Roy joined The Pepsi-Cola Company (Valhalla, NY) as a Principal Research Scientist in Product/Ingredient Technology of Nutritional and Botanical Beverages. Dr. Roy continues to maintain a position as Field Editor of Food Science & Technology with Technomic Publishing Co., Inc.