Evaluate the effect of β-cyclodextrin on the sensory and physicochemical properties of bitter gourd extract during thermal processing

This study aims to evaluate the impact of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) on the properties of the bitter gourd extract (BGE) under various heating conditions. In this work, the BGE and BGE supplemented with beta-CD (0.75%) were heated at 60, 90, and 121 C for 20 min before measuring the changes of bitterness, total saponin, polyphenol, anti-oxidant capacity, free amino acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, browning intensity, and pH. It was found that beta-CD mitigated the effect of heat treatment on the BGE, especially on saponins and color. Results also showed the debittering ability of beta-CD was still preserved after heating duration. The bitter-masking and defensive mecha-nism of beta-CD was also demonstrated using FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis, and molecular docking stimulation. These findings illustrated the addition of beta-CD improved the thermal stability of the BGE, opening up the op-portunities to incorporate BGE, which is promising in diabetes treatment but thermolabile, into heat-processed products.