blackcurrant
ingredient / ingredient-blackcurrant
クロスグリ / blackcurrant (cassis) / Ribes nigrum L.
Blackcurrant fruit for which sensory studies report both astringency and bitterness. Juice is dominated by sourness and astringency, while bitterness is reported as stronger in phenolic-rich skin and press-residue fractions.
On this page (7 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Blackcurrant (cassis, Ribes nigrum) fruit has been reported in sensory research to be both astringent and bitter. Regardless of processing method, the strongest sensory attributes in the juice are sourness and puckering astringency. Sugars and acids are reported to occur mainly in the juice fraction, and phenolic compounds mainly in the press residue.
Bitterness itself is stronger in fractions containing phenolic compounds concentrated toward the skin. Press-residue fractions such as ethanol extracts and fiber-and-seed residues were assessed as 『very astringent and somewhat bitter（かなり渋く、いくらか苦い）』 (in translation: "quite astringent and somewhat bitter"). Flavonol glycosides, including kaempferol and myricetin glycosides, were identified as major contributors to astringency. The principal compounds contributing to bitterness itself cannot be confirmed from this summary.
Juicing process also affects perceived bitterness. Juice treated with enzymes such as skin-derived pectinase is reported to taste more astringent and bitter than untreated juice. Enzyme treatment raises phenolic-compound content and lowers sugar content, pH, and the sugar-to-acid ratio; these changes are linked in the account to increased astringency and bitterness.
None of these findings could be verified directly at the publisher's site; checking was limited to excerpts of summaries via a search engine. Contributors to astringency are named, but the main compounds contributing to bitterness itself have not been identified within the material checked.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Checked that astringency and sourness were the strongest sensory attributes of the juice. / Checked bitterness ratings for press-residue fractions and compounds contributing to astringency. / Checked the association of enzyme treatment with greater astringency and bitterness. / The limitation that bitterness-contributing compounds were not identified.
Follow the connections
blackcurrant →— sensory attribute→ astringency →is not synonymous with→ bitterness
blackcurrant →— astringency correlates wi…→ flavonol glycosides →are correlated with→ astringency
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (2)
Scope: Generic descriptive analysis of blackcurrant juices and press-residue fractions prepared by various processing and fractionation methods.
Note: Regardless of processing, sourness and puckering astringency are reported as the strongest sensory attributes in the juice. Sugars and acids are mainly in juice fractions and phenolic compounds mainly in press-residue fractions.
Show data
ingredient-blackcurrant —has_sensory_attribute→ sensation-astringentScope: Sensory and chemical analysis of black currant fractionated into juice, ethanol extract, and fiber/seed residue.
Note: Blackcurrant extracts (ethanol-extracted and supercritical-fluid-extracted fractions) were perceived as the most astringent, and 3 flavonol glycosides were named as compounds especially contributing to astringency (abstract). Attribution of bitterness to tannins does not appear in the abstract, and the full text (subscription) has not been checked, so it is withheld. On 2026-10-06 the claim was changed from an attribution of bitterness to tannins, which the abstract does not contain, to the relation between astringency and flavonol glycosides that the abstract describes.
Show data
ingredient-blackcurrant —has_astringency_correlated_with→ compound-flavonol-glycosidesHow processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: Comparison of enzyme-treated and untreated juices in the same study.
Note: Enzyme-treated juice is reported to taste more astringent and bitter than untreated juice. Enzyme treatment increased phenolic-compound content while lowering sugar content, pH, and the sugar-to-acid ratio; these changes are linked to greater astringency and bitterness.
Show data
ingredient-blackcurrant —has_perceived_bitterness_affected_by→ "A juicing process using enzyme treatment, such as skin-derived pectinase."