Study on the mechanism of floral aroma compounds in sweet oranges inducing the sweetness enhancement of Erythritol by using sensory evaluation, electronic tongue and molecular simulation.

This study explores the synergy between eight floral aroma compounds and erythritol (p < 0.05), enhancing its sweetness. While α- and β-ionone increase sweetness, they reduce overall acceptability. At optimal concentrations, these compounds improve both sweetness and flavor, but the effect diminishes beyond certain thresholds. Electronic tongue results correlate with sensory data but cannot fully replicate human taste. Molecular docking reveals ternary complexes (T1R2/T1R3-aroma-erythritol) show better binding energies than binary systems, with α-ionone having the lowest binding energy (-10.54 kcal/mol). 100-ns simulations identify ASN70, GLY381, and SER380 as key residues. Binding free energies for neryl acetate range from - 45.21 to -57.38 kcal/mol, clarifying the mechanisms of sweetness enhancement. These findings support the reduction of erythritol in juices and the development of low-sugar beverages through aroma-induced sweetness.