Quinoa bitterness linked to specific plant compounds
What it found
Triterpenoids, especially phytolaccagenic acid derivatives, were found to cause the bitter taste in quinoa seeds.
A compound called mauritianin was also linked to quinoa bitterness for the first time.
What they found
Compounds causing bitterness
The work confirmed that triterpenoids cause the bitter taste in quinoa seeds. Phytolaccagenic acid derivatives were the main contributors.
Five compounds identified
Researchers isolated five compounds from quinoa seeds. Their dose-over-threshold factors ranged from 29.03 to 198.89.
Mauritianin and bitterness
A compound called mauritianin was shown for the first time to be linked to the bitterness of quinoa.
What the authors conclude
- They suggest their work offers new insight into identifying the compounds that make quinoa taste bitter.
How it was done
Quinoa has nutritional value but its bitter taste limits how much the food industry uses it. Saponins were thought to cause the bitterness, but scientists did not know exactly which compound was responsible.
Researchers used solvents and separation techniques guided by taste testing to pull out the main bitter components from quinoa seeds. They then identified five compounds using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This work looked at taste chemistry rather than health effects. It cannot show whether these bitter compounds affect people's health.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- Biotechnology Research Institute, China; Inner Mongolia University, China; Shanxi University, China
The paper
- Title
- Key phytochemicals contributing to the bitterness of quinoa
- Type
- Study
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Guo H, Wang S, Liu C, et al (2024). Key phytochemicals contributing to the bitterness of quinoa. Food chemistry. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139262PubMed 38608613DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error