ABSTRACT
Health benefits from nutraceuticals include reduced side effects, increase beneficial effects and eliminate unpleasant side effects, increase health value and our diet, improvement of medical condition and easy availability with economical advantages. Nutraceuticals are categorized based upon different factors like food and non-food sources, mechanism of action or pharmacological activity and chemical nature. Bitter taste perception arises from ingestion of chemicals and their detection by receptors present in oral cavity. Alkaloids are the secondary metabolites of plant that have a nitrogen atom at any position of a molecule but not in amide or peptide linkage. Flavanoids and isoflavanoids are abundantly present in plants and are secondary metabolites as like alkaloids which play protective role in plants. Tannins also fall under phenolic category as like flavanoids. Enzymatically converted isoflavones has decreased bitter taste and astringency of aglycones; another author has reported to increase in bad taste after treating with β-glucosidase. Food treatment at different temperature helped reducing bitterness of several compounds.
