The role of water in the taste mechanism of small carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners was derived from physico-chemical methods and spectroscopic studies of their aqueous solutions. The effect of bitter substance (Nicotine), Inhibitor of bitterness like Sucrose, Maltitol, Aspartame, beta-Cyclodextrin, Na-Gluconate, K-Gluconate and Acesulfame-K or Nicotine-Inhibitors mixtures on water structure was investigated, using Laser Raman spectroscopy in order to enhance our understanding of the role of water mobility in taste perception. The Laser-Raman spectra were recorded in the OH stretching region (3800 to 2800 cm-1) and analyzed by comparison to the Raman band of water fitted to 4 Gaussian components. The interpretation of results gives an overall picture of the hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity and water mobility in the aqueous solutions of these molecules. The Laser Raman results seem to be efficient to identify that molecules such as sucrose, Na-gluconate, K-gluconate, beta-Cyclodextrin, Aspartame and Acesulfame-K show an antagonist effect to that of Nicotine in ternary water-inhibitor-nicotine mixtures.
