monellin Chem.
(ˈmɒnəlɪn)
[f. the name of the Monell Chemical Senses Center, in Philadelphia, U.S.A., where it was first isolated + -in1.]
A protein with a sweet taste isolated from the berries of the tropical plant Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii.
| 1972 Morris & Cagan in Biochim. & Biophys. Acta CCLXI. 114 We propose the name ‘monellin’ for the sweet material we have isolated. 1972 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Feb. 25/6 [Scientists] had isolated a new, low-calorie sweetener said to be 3,000 times more intense by weight than sugar. Named ‘Monellin’ the product is derived from a wild red berry that grows abundantly in tropical West Africa. 1973 Nature 27 July 196/3 Both thaumatin and monellin exhibit sweetness to a prodigious degree. |