A Sensory Evaluation of the Bitter Compounds from Ixeris dentata Nakai

관능검사를 통한 씀바귀의 쓴맛 연구

Ixeris dentata Nakai (Compositae) is a perennial herb and the young shoots when prepared properly are edible as a bitter appetizing vegetable in the early spring. The whole plant has been used as a folk medicine in treating diabetes in Korea. As a part of our studies on bitter substances, we have investigated the bitterness of the plant through a taste-guided fractionation method. Bitter substances were extracted by the solvent fractionation and the bitterness was evaluated by 10 trained panelists consisted with graduate students of Dept. of Foods and Nutrition. It has been revealed that the bitter compounds were distributed throughout the extracting fractions and the higher intensity of the bitterness was seen in the n-BuOH fractions. The bitter compounds were subfractionated by the silica gel column chromatography and the bitterness was evaluated by the trained panelists. The subfractions which were indicated as the bitter compounds will be further studied to isolate the compounds. The H$_2$O fractions were grouped according to the molecular weight through the ultrafiltration and the group with 1,000 < m.w. < 30,000 was evaluated as the most intense bitter subfraction.