Origin of human colour preference for food

The food-colour preference of humans was investigated using a subjective evaluation method for natural foods with different colours. The colour trajectory during the food decomposition process under room temperature storage conditions was recorded and compared with the preferred colour obtained from the subjective test. People tended to prefer foods with higher chroma, which indicates more vivid colour than the original food colour, whereas the chroma of most foods decreased during the decomposition process. Therefore, the colour shifts that occurred during the food decomposition process were found to be qualitatively the opposite of the food-colour preference. This result implies that the food-colour preference may have a significant association with the human tendency to select fresher and non-contaminated foods using visual perception, which may be influenced by both inherited traits and empirical learning. The results are fundamentally interesting and also practically useful in various food industry and engineering fields.     

Effect of background noise on food perception

We investigated the effects of auditory background noise on the perception of gustatory food properties (sugar level, salt level), food crunchiness and food liking. Participants blindly consumed different foods whilst passively listening to either no sound, or quiet or loud background white noise. The foods were then rated in terms of sweetness, saltiness and liking (Experiment 1) or in terms of overall flavour, crunchiness and liking (Experiment 2). Reported sweetness and saltiness was significantly lower in the loud compared to the quiet sound conditions (Experiment 1), but crunchiness was reported to be more intense (Experiment 2). This suggests that food properties unrelated to sound (sweetness, saltiness) and those conveyed via auditory channels (crunchiness) are differentially affected by background noise. A relationship between ratings of the liking of background noise and ratings of the liking of the food was also found (Experiment 2). We conclude that background sound unrelated to food diminishes gustatory food properties (saltiness, sweetness) which is suggestive of a cross-modal contrasting or attentional effect, whilst enhancing food crunchiness.     

University students’ food preference and practice now and during childhood

The aim of the cross sectional survey is to investigate the link between food preference and practice in early adulthood and recollections of their childhood food preferences by their mother. Six hundred and eighty four undergraduate students whose mothers were primary caregivers from 4 colleges at the Selcuk University in Konya, Turkey were selected. Early food preferences, present food preferences, early eating practices, and present eating practices were measured.A positive relationship between early parental controls of food preferences and food practices in late adolescence was found in this research. Parents appear to influence students’ food preference and practice. Educators must focus on improving home food availability and parent support and modeling.     

辣椒及其制品辣度分级方法研究

对国外辣椒及其制品的分级情况进行了研究,并结合我国情况以HPLC精确测定辣素为指标,建立了套辣度分级的方法。同时对该方法在辣椒及其制品的分级应用方面进行了研究探讨。     

Consumer preference,behavior and perception about meat and meat products: An overview

Meat and meat products currently represent an important source of protein in the human diet, and their quality varies according to intrinsic and extrinsic parameters that can sometimes be shaped to make a product more desirable. Because consumers are the final step in the production chain, it is useful to identify which factors affect their behavioral patterns. This would allow the meat sector to better satisfy consumer expectations, demands and needs. This paper focuses on features that might influence consumer behavior, preferences and their perception of meat and meat products with respect to psychological, sensory and marketing aspects. This multidisciplinary approach includes evaluating psychological issues such as attitudes, beliefs, and expectations; sensory properties such as appearance, texture, flavor and odor; and marketing-related aspects such as price and brand.     

Sensory perception of creaminess and its relationship with food structure

Practical difficulties are frequently encountered in understanding the meaning of creaminess as used as a sensory attribute, and in the compositional and physical characteristics of foods that give rise to creaminess. Selected factors have been investigated in this project. The size of dispersed particles (solid, liquid and gaseous) on the perceived creaminess was of particular interest during the course of the work, and this was varied using appropriate changes in processing, during production of samples for analysis. Additional factors investigated included the presence of an added cream flavour in artificial creams, fat content in artificial creams and air content in chocolate mousses. Sensory characterisation of samples was carried out using sensory profiling, while physical characterisation of the samples was by means of particle size measurements, microscopy and rheology. The results show that perceived creaminess is a complex attribute in multi-phase food systems, being dependent on both flavour and textural characteristics of products, with different dependencies on these characteristics, depending on the product type concerned. The project demonstrated the value of manipulating processing and formulation variables as a means of generating a range of food structures for the investigation of creaminess. It is evident, however, that the concept of creaminess might differ between different structural types, limiting opportunities for devising general rules governing the factors controlling creaminess. Further studies should focus on specific structural types that are open to manipulation, and further research is in progress to investigate systematic changes to a mousse structure.     

Changes in perception and liking for everyday food odors among older adults

The age-related decline in olfactory function is well established and concerns intensity perception and odor identification. However, the extent to which olfactory decline influences food preferences is less clear. Furthermore, it is unclear whether there are decline patterns relating to food odors, specifically. This study investigated intensity perception and hedonic liking for 14 multi-component food odors and one pure odorant in three groups of older adults (age 60–69, age 70–70, age 80 + ) and a group of young adults. In total 335 subjects were tested, 246 old and very old adults and 89 young adults. The age group 60–69 was on par with the young adults, whereas intensity perception declined for the majority of odors for older adults age 70–79 and the very old age 80 + . The largest drop in intensity perception was seen for savory odors; fried meat, mushroom and onion. In contrast, intensity perception for raspberry and orange did not differ between groups of older adults and young adults. Hedonic liking decreased to some degree with increasing age but remained largely the same for savory odors (bacon, mushroom, fried meat and onion). A decline in liking was seen for coffee and thyme. This study shows evidence that age-related decline in intensity perception is food odor specific and some aggregation may occur at a higher concept level for the “savory” category. Furthermore, hedonic liking is not necessarily dependent on the intensity perception as seen for several odors, where declining intensity perception did not impact hedonic liking. This could be explained by changes in dose-response relationships for the group of ageing individuals, which in fact may favor persistence of the food odor liking, despite a decline in their intensity perception.     

Country-wise differences in perception of health-related messages in cereal-based food products

The objective of the present study was to explore the impact of health-related messages on the perceived overall healthiness and consumers’ likelihood to buy cereal-based products or non-cereal products containing beneficial compounds from grains, across four European countries. The data were collected from a sample of 2392 members of the public in Finland, Germany, Italy and the UK. The results from a conjoint task with a main effects additive model were reported. In general, the presence of a verbal health claim on foods had positive influence on respondents perception of healthiness and on likelihood to buy the products, whereas the pictorial health claims were found to have a weak influence on the two dependent variables. However, the findings showed that health-related information on food labels differently influenced the healthiness perception and the likelihood to buy the product across the four countries, suggesting that different cultures, traditions, and eating habits have to be taken into account before positioning cereal-based products containing beneficial compounds from grains on the market.     

天然香辛味精的试制

本文提出了用天然香辛调味料生姜，花椒，辣椒，大葱等，赋于普通味精香辛风味的工艺方法，并给出了八个具体配方。     

辣椒素类物质辣味的研究进展

辣椒素类物质是一类带有香草基团和中长链脂肪酰胺结构的生物碱,其中辣椒素和二氢辣椒素辣度最高。部分辣椒素类物质可激活相关受体,引起痛觉与热觉神经信号的传导,使人感到辣味。斯科维尔指数法是评价辣度最常见的方法,但评价结果仅与辣味物质的含量有关,无法真正反映样品的辣度,而时间-强度法可获得多个与辣度相关的定量指标,具有更高的参考价值。除增加辣椒素类物质的含量外,使用水基分散系、提高体系温度、增感作用的产生甚至其他感觉刺激均可显著提升辣椒素类物质辣味感知强度,在感官评价中应当特别注意。综上,本文总结辣椒素类物质的结构、分布,辣味呈现机制、评价方法以及影响辣味感知的因素等方面,以期为食品辣味强度预测和辣味食品的开发提供参考。     

Chemesthesis: Pungency as a component of flavor

Long referred to as the ‘common chemical sense’ and frequently described imprecisely as ‘trigeminal sensitivity’, chemesthesis provides the burn of chili pepper, the coolness of menthol and the tingle of carbonation. This article is a brief overview of our current understanding of the nature of this sensibility, including its relationship to the senses of pain and temperature, how it interacts with taste and smell, and why, despite its capacity to produce pungency and pain, it is a prevalent and desirable attribute of flavor.     

Attitudes toward chemicals are associated with preference for natural food

Consumers express concerns about chemicals in their diet. We hypothesized that general positive and negative attitudes toward synthetic chemicals and dose-response insensitivity influence consumers’ risk perceptions of chemicals in food and preference for natural food. We expected gender differences in these domains. Data was taken from a postal survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test our hypotheses. Positive attitudes toward chemicals were correlated negatively, and dose-response insensitivity was correlated positively, with risk perceptions of chemicals in food. Risk perceptions of chemicals in food were positively correlated with preference for natural food. For all variables, gender differences were observed. Our findings show that general attitudes toward chemicals influence perceptions in the food context. Consumers’ dose-response insensitivity might lead to an inappropriate perception of exposure hazards. Contaminants and additives in food are perceived differently according to their origin. Women are more sensitive than men to chemical exposure hazards.     

“郫县豆瓣”色价和辣度的分析

以某品牌特、一、二级“郫县豆瓣”为样本,分别选择索氏提取、丙酮超声波提取以及乙酸乙酯超声波提取其中的辣椒红色素,通过分光光度法检测其吸光度,对比分析色价差异;采用高效液相色谱法测定其中辣椒素和二氢辣椒素的含量,采用国际通用的斯科维尔指数和辣度来表示“郫县豆瓣”的辣味程度。结果表明：丙酮超声波提取法提取效果最好,可用于“郫县豆瓣”的色价测定,各等级“郫县豆瓣”的色价均高于0.4,随着等级的降低而减小,但各等级间差异不显著;超声波提取、高效液相色谱法测得某品牌特级“郫县豆瓣”的辣度为23～28;一级为14～21;二级为13～15。     

川菜菜品的辣味物质分析与辣度分级

采用高效液相色谱法测定部分川菜菜品中辣味物质（辣椒素及二氢辣椒素）的含量,根据高效液相色谱分析结果结合感官评价进行辣味分级。根据辣度的强弱分为5级（特辣,辣椒素类物质含量≥0.291 8 g/kg）、4级（辣,辣椒素类物质含量0.092 4～0.291 8 g/kg）、3级（中辣,辣椒素类物质含量0.019 5～0.092 4 g/kg）、2级（微辣,辣椒素类物质含量0.001 95～0.019 5 g/kg）、1级（不辣,辣椒素类物质含量＜0.001 95 g/kg）5 个等级。在123 个样品中,1级样品占39.84%,2级样品占18.70%,3级样品占26.83%,4级样品占12.20%,5级样品占2.44%。实验还分析了辣椒及其制品对样品辣味的影响,样品的辣味不仅与辣椒及其制品的种类和使用量有关,还与加工方式、原料大小、加工温度、调味料等密切相关。