Technology company Blue California has teamed up with biotech innovator Conagen to file a patent for a nature-based bitter blocker technology.

Blue California is the commercial partner in charge of scaling and securing global regulatory approvals for its new solution, which will be marketed under the Sensegen brand.

“These products introduce great new possibilities for the consumer-driven clean label movement for nearly every category of consumer products containing bitter food components,” Kathy Oglesby, head of flavors and fragrances at Blue California, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“Our new bitter blocker technology is user-friendly and can be delivered easily into sweet and savory products in either liquid or dry format, depending on our customer’s needs and preferences.”

The Blue California flavor and fragrance division will use the new technology to develop custom food and beverage solutions at its newly launched Blue California creative center in Southern California, US.

“With these new tools, we are able to create custom-tailored solutions for our customers’ products in a broad range of tonalities using our growing palette of captive, natural, sustainable, GMO-free, plant-based flavoring materials,” says Oglesby.

The bitter blocker technology is applicable across a range of classic bitterants that are highly popular in today’s F&B landscape including coffee, unsweetened cocoa, tea, tonics, energy drinks and other products containing plant proteins, cannabinoids and vitamin supplements.

“Conagen has made impressive investments in its capabilities of high-throughput identification, design and screening to develop the natural novel compound portfolio for taste modulation specifically with this new installment of bitter blockers,” comments Dr. David Nunn, vice president of research and development at Conagen.

Sensitivities to bitterness
Bitterness is one of the basic flavor profiles. Countering off-notes is a prominent challenge faced by formulators working with bitter compounds, protein-enriched recipes and other special ingredients.

There is a high amount of variability in sensitivity to bitterness and many consumers find it unpleasant. Blue California reports that 25 to 30 percent of the US population are “bitter-blind” (bitter “non-tasters”), while 45 to 50 percent are “bitter-average”, and 20 to 30 percent are “bitter-sensitive” (bitter “supertasters”).

Consumer demand for health and wellness products with a more natural and functional positioning is maturing. As such, solutions that mitigate off-notes are required to satisfy the taste sensitivities of 70 percent of the population who are averse to the bitter tastes, the company states.

Formulators have responded to this need with in-house solutions. In March, Brazillian flavor house Duas Rodas launched Bitter Block, a natural aroma that rounds out flavors and synergistically eliminates bitter notes in drinks, such as caffeine supplements, those with high protein content and ready-to-drink teas.

Combatting bitter off-notes has been a long held challenge in the sports nutrition arena. Adjunctly, Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI) debuted Lacprodan HYDRO.PowerPro, a whey protein hydrolysate that is 50 percent less bitter than comparable products with a similar degree of hydrolysis of 21 to 27 percent.

However, evolving appetites leaning toward healthier consumption habits may shift the needle on the appeal of bitterness. Juxtaposing the drive to eliminate bitter off-notes from product formulations, Innova Market Insights research has highlighted that bitter could be trending as the “war on sugar” rages on.

As consumers are reducing their sugar intake, green vegetables are gaining momentum in NPD, according to Innova Market Insights. Bitter and earthy flavors may stand to play a role in elevating consumers’ perceptions of a product’s health and wellness benefits.