Hernandulcin is an intensely sweet chemical compound gained from the chiefly Mexican and South American plant Lippia dulcis.

History and origin

In the 1570s, Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 physician Francisco Hernández

Francisco Hernández de Toledo

Francisco Hernández de Toledo was a naturalist and court physician to the King of Spain....

 described a remarkably sweet plant known to the Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

s as Tzonpelic xihuitl, meaning "sweet herb". This reference, accompanied by an accurate description and illustration of the plant, led to a group of pharmacognocists in 1985 to a previously unrecognised, intensely sweet chemical that can provide sweetness

Sweetness

Sweetness is one of the five basic tastes and is almost universally regarded as a pleasurable experience. Foods rich in simple carbohydrates such as sugar are those most commonly associated with sweetness, although there are other natural and artificial compounds that are sweet at much lower...

 without tooth decay. Cesar M. Compadre, and A. Douglas Kinghorn, from the University of Illinois at Chicago isolated and identified the sweet compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 from the leaves and flowers of the Lippia dulcis plant, in Mexico. The researchers noted the chemical structure of the colourless

Colourless

Colourless may also refer to:* Transparency and translucency, transmitting all or most colours** Neutral density filter, a colorless or grey filter that changes intensity of all wavelengths of light equally* Monochrome, images in a single colour...

 oil, and named it hernandulcin after Francisco Hernandez. By slightly modifying the compound, they identified the three parts of the chemical structure which caused the intensely sweet taste - the carbonyl

Carbonyl

In organic chemistry, a carbonyl group is a functional group composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom: C=O. It is common to several classes of organic compounds, as part of many larger functional groups....

 group, and the hydroxyl

Hydroxyl

A hydroxyl is a chemical group containing an oxygen atom covalently bonded with a hydrogen atom. In inorganic chemistry, the hydroxyl group is known as the hydroxide ion, and scientists and reference works generally use these different terms though they refer to the same chemical structure in...

 group, and the hydrophobic side chain

Structure

Hernandulcin is a sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations...

 with the molecular formula C₁₅H₂₄O₂. By slightly modifying the compound, researchers have identified the three parts of the chemical structure that produced the intense the sweet taste - the carbonyl

Carbonyl

In organic chemistry, a carbonyl group is a functional group composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom: C=O. It is common to several classes of organic compounds, as part of many larger functional groups....

 group, and the hydroxyl

Hydroxyl

A hydroxyl is a chemical group containing an oxygen atom covalently bonded with a hydrogen atom. In inorganic chemistry, the hydroxyl group is known as the hydroxide ion, and scientists and reference works generally use these different terms though they refer to the same chemical structure in...

 group, and the hydrophobic side chain. Hernandulcin was the first sesquiterpene found to be sweet, and after a panel of volunteers tasted hernandulcin, it was determined that it was more than 1,000 times sweeter than sugar

Sucrose

Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...

. Hernandulcin also has a minty aftertaste

Aftertaste

Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying feature of aftertaste is that it is perceived after a...

, and does not cause tooth decay, which would make it a good candidate for oral hygiene products.