Naringin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to naringin DC, is an artificial sweetener derived from naringin

Naringin

Naringin is a flavanone glycoside. It is a major flavonoid in grapefruit and gives the grapefruit juice its bitter taste. It is metabolized to the flavanone naringenin in humans...

, a bitter compound found in citrus

Citrus

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...

.

Naringin dihydrochalcone

Dihydrochalcone

Dihydrochalcone is a chemical compound related to chalcone.Dihydrochalcones Dihydrochalcone (DHC) is a chemical compound related to chalcone.Dihydrochalcones Dihydrochalcone (DHC) is a chemical compound related to chalcone.Dihydrochalcones (3′,5′-dihydroxy-2′,4′,6′-trimethoxydihydrochalcone,...

 is a phloretin

Phloretin

Phloretin is a dihydrochalcone, a type of natural phenols. It is the phloroglucin ester of paraoxyhydratropic acid. It can be found in apple tree leaves.-Metabolism:Phloretin hydrolase uses phloretin and water to produce phloretate and phloroglucinol....

 glycoside

Glycoside

In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to a non-carbohydrate moiety, usually a small organic molecule. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme...

 discovered at the same time as neohesperidin dihydrochalcone

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to neohesperidin DC or simply NHDC, is an artificial sweetener derived from citrus....

 during the 1960s as part of a United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

 research program to find methods for minimizing the taste of bitter flavorants in citrus juices.

When Naringin is treated with potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, commonly called caustic potash.Along with sodium hydroxide , this colorless solid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications. Most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and its corrosive...

 or another strong base, and then catalytically hydrogenated

Hydrogenation

Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...

, it becomes a dihydrochalcone, a compound roughly 300-1800 times sweeter than sugar at threshold concentrations.