In this study, an electronic nose (E-tongue) and molecular docking were utilized to analyze the taste profiles of 12 representative sweeteners and their binding characteristics with sweet taste receptors. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) categorized the sweeteners into 4 groups based on their taste profiles: Group 1, represented by glucose, exhibited a clean sweet taste; Group 2, represented by rebaudioside A, had significant astringency; Group 3, represented by mogroside Ⅲ, showed a pronounced sourness; and Group 4, represented by sucralose, possessed pronounced bitterness. According to the differences in binding affinity to the hT1R2 and hT1R3 receptors, the sweeteners were also classified into four categories. Next, partial least squares regression, random forest regression, and support vector regression were used to build unimodal prediction based on the data of E-tongue and molecular docking, separately. Feature-level fusion was carried out on these models to construct a bimodal prediction model connected by molecular features. Maltitol and isomalt oligosaccharide were identified as sugar substitutes with taste profiles most similar to sucrose, which was further verified by sensory evaluation. This study provides a new reliable modeling strategy for the rapid screening of sweeteners with a clean sweet taste.

In this study, the effect of component migration and interaction with concomitant saponins on the composition and functional properties of the seed storage proteins from Camellia oleifera Abel., a typical woody oil crop in China, was investigated using proteomics and molecular docking. The results showed that the optimal parameters for alkaline extraction were solid/liquid ratio 1:10 (g/mL) and pH 8.0, which resulted in an extraction rate of 75.8%, and a saponin-to-protein ratio of 2.60. The 11S globulins were precipitated at pH 4.5 with a saponin-to-protein ratio of 0.36. Albumin accounted for 69%of the total storage proteins, and coexisted with saponin during the extraction process, thus resulting in a high saponin-to-protein ratio of 3.73. The foaming properties of albumin and globulin from C. oleifera Abel. seeds were larger than 200%, and the emulsifying activity index was 16.7 m²/g. The interaction between saponins and proteins significantly improved the emulsion stability. This study provides theoretical support for the high-value utilization of proteins from C. oleifera Abel. and the development of functional food ingredients.