Cereal Chem 59:92 - 95.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Sweetness-Structure Correlation in Carbohydrates.

J. R. Daniel and R. L. Whistler. Copyright 1982 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Some of the concepts of molecular connectivity and graph theory are used to show a relation between the structures of carbohydrates and their relative sweetness. A third order connectivity index, (3)chi(m), calculated for a sugar structure is in direct relation to sugar sweetness. Correlations between calculated (3)chi(m) index value and relative sweetness are shown for simple sugars, glycosides, methyl ethers of sugar glycosides, pentoses, pentitols, hexoses, hexitols, sugar enantiomers, and several other classes of carbohydrate sweeteners. Most of the correlations show good correspondence. The index may be useful as a tool to aid in the design and selection of new, sweet synthetic carbohydrates.