Sweetness Labs

The question provided in this lab was, "how does the structure of a carbohydrate affect its taste (sweetness)?" We found that monosaccharides were the sweetest, disaccharides were the second sweetest, and polysaccharides were the least sweet. On average, the sweetness level of monosaccharides was 95, while disaccharides was 66, and polysaccharides was 9. This evidence shows the levels of sweetness and which saccharides are the sweetest.

Carbohydrate structure affects how cells use them. More rings in a structure would hold more sugar and energy, and less rings would hold less sugar. There are three reasons why the sugars would taste different for different people. First of all, some people have more papillae, meaning they are more sensitive to tasting certain things. Also, some people have certain genes, probably arising from evolutionary pressure in different parts of the world, which detect bitter tastes more highly. Lastly, the nose is also involved in tasting. Because our noses detect smells slightly differently and some of us could not have smelt the sugar before we tasted it, the sugar could taste different to different people.
People having different amounts of papillae is the number one reason why we would think certain things are sweeter or more bitter than other people.