Synthesis of chitosan–cyclodextrin adducts and evaluation of their bitter‐masking properties

Finding new taste modifiers, particularly bitter‐taste blockers (BTBs), is an important goal for pharmaceutical and food industries. Although BTBs have been much sought after, only a few possess a wide spectrum of activity. We prepared, on a gram scale, several macromolecular adducts in which β ‐ and γ ‐CDs are linked to chitosan through succinyl or maleyl bridges. Their bitterness‐masking power was evaluated on caffeine and bitter natural extracts (artichoke leaves, aloe and gentian) by a panel test using serial caffeine concentrations as a reference scale. The β ‐CD–chitosan adduct showed the highest efficacy and the bitterness attenuation was statistically significant.