Crossmodal associations and subjective ratings of Asian noodles and the impact of the receptacle

We investigated the crossmodal associations that people hold for Asian noodles, and the influence of the plateware/receptacle. Chinese participants viewed online photographs of natural, red, green, and yellow noodles presented in bowls or plates made from ceramic, glass, paper, or stainless steel. In Experiment 1, the participants reported the first taste/flavour that came to mind, and rated their feelings and taste/flavour expectations concerning the noodles. In Experiment 2, the participants had to choose a taste term from a list to indicate the first taste that came to mind, and rated their feelings about the noodles. The results of both experiments revealed that the red noodles tended to be associated with a spicy taste/flavour; whereas the yellow noodles were often associated with a savoury taste/flavour, and rated as looking more familiar and pleasant than either the red or green noodles. The receptacles used to present the noodles did not influence the observed colour-flavour associations. However, the material of the receptacles appeared to interact with the colour of the noodles in terms of influencing people’s subjective ratings of, and taste/flavour expectations concerning, the noodles. These findings therefore demonstrate the complex interactions that can occur between the colour of the product and the type/material of the receptacle on people’s expectations regarding the taste/flavour of Asian noodles in the Asian marketplace.     

Conditioning unfamiliar and familiar flavours to specific positive emotions

Emotions play an important role in determining food preferences and liking. We often speak of food as something that evokes emotions, such as comfort food. In two studies we investigated whether novel and familiar flavoured drinks could be conditioned to evoke specific positive emotions and whether this had a subsequent effect on liking of the drinks. In the first study, 167 participants consumed one of two novel flavoured drinks (one initially highly liked, one initially medium liked) for five consecutive days while watching film clips evoking either joy, contentment or no emotion in a between subjects design. On the test day, we measured whether the emotions from the film clips were transferred to the drink, i.e. that the drink (which has no active ingredients) on its own induced a joyful/activating or contented/relaxed response. Behavioural measures showed that the conditioned drinks successfully induced the distinct positive emotions. Further, the emotional associations impacted on the liking of the drink. Liking scores for identical stimuli were different based on which emotion the drinks were associated with. In the second study with 139 participants, the same paradigm was used with familiar flavours. No emotional conditioning effects were found. These results suggest that it is possible to induce specific positive emotions by flavour conditioning in the absence of active ingredients for novel but not for familiar flavours, confirming that existing associations cannot be easily erased by new conditioning.     

Changes in the pleasantness of caffeine-associated flavours consumed at home

Previous laboratory studies have reported that moderate caffeine consumers develop a liking for the flavour of a novel caffeinated drink. The present study tested whether results from laboratory studies are applicable to real-life situations. Forty moderate caffeine consumers were randomly allocated to four conditions (n = 10). Three of these conditions involved consumption of two novel flavoured fruit drinks, one caffeinated (100 mg) and one without caffeine, at different times of the participants’ daily routine (breakfast, anytime, night). Participants in the final (control) condition evaluated the drinks on the three test days only. Those participants who received the drinks at breakfast showed a significant increase in liking for the flavour of the caffeinated drink, whereas those who consumed the drinks at night showed a significant decrease in liking for the same flavour. Results imply that the post-ingestive effect of caffeine may depend on the time and condition during which the caffeinated flavour is consumed.     

Mixed extracts of green tea and orange peel encapsulated and impregnated on black tea bag paper to be used as a functional drink

Herbal drinks have been considered among the known groups of functional drinks. The aim of this study was to encapsulate green tea and orange peel extracts using double emulsion followed by complex coacervation to be used in the preparation of a functional drink. All of the microcapsule formulations were spherically prepared without cracks in the walls and their sizes increased by decreasing the ratio of the core to the wall. Microcapsules under the best conditions of this study were used to coat the paper of a bag containing black tea. The results showed that theaflavin and its ratio to thearubigin as the quality indices for black tea have increased in comparison with the sample without encapsulation. This study resulted in the production of encapsulated mixed extracts of green tea and orange peel that can be used later for the preparation of a functional drink.     

Producing of natural clouding agents from orange and lemon peels

Two beverage clouding agents were produced from peels of Valencia orange and of Baladi Lemon. Three enzyme preparations, Pectinex ultra SP-L, Novo Ferm and Ultrazyme 100, were used under their estimated optimum conditions to hydrolyse pectin of the peel. Novo Ferm was proved the optimum preparation to use for preparing the two clouds. The chemical and physical properties of the produced clouds were evaluated. During storage the colour of lemon cloud was more stable than that of orange which showed significant browning. Sensory evaluation of two citrus drink when 5, 10 and 15% of the clouding agents were added, indicated that colour and appearance of drinks were improved. No bitterness was detected when orange cloud was added up to 15%. The cloudy of the produced drinks was stable after 42 days storage at 25 °C.     

Touching tastes: The haptic perception transfer of liquid food packaging materials

Based on the theory of crossmodal correspondence, which addresses transfer effects from one sense to another, and research that has explored the impact of touch on taste, the present study examined how the packaging materials of traditional Chinese cold tea drinks generated touch–taste associations. Blindfolded participants used a set of tasting attribute items to evaluate the taste of a liquid food product that differed only by the materials used to contain it, although they were led to believe that the products could differ. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that consumers’ haptic perception of packing materials significantly impacted their sense of the product’s SWEET dimension, but not the product’s SOUR or BITTER dimensions. Consumers rated a liquid food product’s sense of cold and ice (sub-dimensions of SWEET) higher when it was presented in a glass container rather than in paper or organic plastic containers. However, with the cups’ weight controlled, the results of Experiment 2 revealed that consumers’ haptic perception of packing materials only significantly impacted their sense of ice, but not their sense of cold. Consumers rated a liquid food product’s sense of ice higher when it was presented in a glass container rather than in an organic plastic container. The preliminary findings of both experiments indicate a crossmodal correspondence between the touch of food packaging materials and the taste of the food contained within them. Sensation transference provides the most likely explanation for the results. Affective ventriloquism effects provide another, but less likely, explanation. The study’s implications for choosing between packaging materials for liquid food products are discussed.     

Influence of the glassware on the perception of alcoholic drinks

Two studies are reported in which the effect of glassware was investigated on subjective ratings of, and willingness-to-pay for, alcoholic drinks. Participants from China (Study 1) and the USA (Study 2) viewed online photographs of red wine, white wine, beer, whisky, and Chinese baijiu presented in 6 different glasses, including a narrow, wide, or stemless wine glass, a highball or rocks glass, and a beer mug. They rated liking, familiarity, and congruency (between the drink and the glassware), as well as how much they would be willing to pay for the drinks. Both the type of drink and the type of glassware influenced participants’ subjective ratings of, and willingness-to-pay for, the drinks. The red and white wine were liked more, and people were willing to pay significantly more for if they thought that the glassware was congruent with the contents. These findings highlight the influence of content–context congruency on consumers’ subjective ratings and willingness-to-pay.     

The physicochemical and rheological properties of a milk drink flavoured with cajeta,a Mexican caramel jam

This research was conducted to study physicochemical and flow properties of a milk drink with the inclusion of caramel jam in relation to formulation and storage. The systems were prepared, by following a Box Behnken experimental design, including fat, gum, and flavour as variables; drinks were successfully analysed through 3 weeks of storage. Density and moisture of drinks were stable through the storage time, in contrast to acidity, colour, pH, and flow properties; the hydrocolloid content had greatest influence on rheological properties. A contour surface methodology was used to establish the corresponding relationship of three flow parameters affected by the studied variables.     

苦笋复合饮料的研制

单纯的苦笋饮料 ,其味甘苦单一 ,适口性差。把苦笋、胡萝卜、柑桔花三者配合使用 ,通过正交试验进行配方优选 ,结果表明 ,最佳风味调配浓度为 :苦笋汁 10 % 胡萝卜汁 10 % 柑桔花汁 3 % ,由此调制成的苦笋复合饮料营养丰富 ,具有独特的风味及一定的保健作用。     

果葡糖浆在果汁饮料中的应用研究

对使用蔗糖与果葡糖浆生产的果汁饮料的成分进行了分析，比较了两类产品的糖成分和感官差异。结果表明：使用蔗糖生产的果汁饮料与使用果葡糖浆生产的果汁饮料比较，果葡糖浆对产品色泽的影响与蔗糖没有明显区别；但在产品风味方面，后者甜味消失快，果香味与酸味变浓；在果汁生产过程中，采用果葡糖浆部分替代蔗糖的产品风味不受影响．     

决明子苦瓜保健饮料的研制

在制取苦瓜原汁时，通过添加果胶酶可以增加了苦瓜的出汁率。利用炒制决明子的咖啡香可以掩盖苦瓜苦味的特点研制出苦瓜保健饮料，并有效解决了苦瓜脱苦、护色、稳定等实际技术问题，提出了较佳的配方与生产工艺参数。使苦瓜饮品营养风味得到改善，产品色泽好、晶莹靓丽，具有苦瓜特有的清香苦味。     

Influence of colour intensity on the perception of colour and sweetness in various fruit-flavoured yoghurts

A study was made of the influence of colour concentration on the perception of flavour, sweetness and colour intensity, and also of opinions about colour suitability, in yoghurts with strawberry, lemon, fruit of the forest and orange flavours. The results indicated that, even with the same content of each fruit flavour and sugar, the greater the concentration of colourant, the greater was the intensity of taste perceived by the assessors in yoghurts with strawberry, orange and fruit of the forest flavours. With regard to perception of sweetness, only in the yoghurts with fruit of the forest flavour was it found that the greater the concentration of colourant, the greater was the sensation of sweetness.In the range of colourant concentrations studied for the four flavours, it was found that the colour considered most suitable corresponded to the yoghurts with intermediate colourant concentrations and that, for the four flavours studied, the greater the concentration of colourant, the greater was the sensation of intensity of colour.     

Tasting shapes and words

We report a series of quick and simple paper-and-pencil demonstrations illustrating the reliable crossmodal correspondences that people have between commercially-available food and drink items and both visually-presented shapes and nonsense words. The foodstuffs tested in this study included still and sparkling water, Brie cheese and cranberry juice, and two kinds of chocolate. Participants were given paper-based line scales, anchored at either end with a nonsense word or simple outline shape. They were instructed to taste the foodstuffs and to indicate whether their perception of the flavour matched more one or other of the items anchoring the scales, and then mark the appropriate point on the scale. The results highlight the fact that certain of these foodstuffs (sparkling water, cranberry juice, and Maltesers - chocolate-covered malt honeycomb) were better associated with angular shapes and high-pitched meaningless words, such as ‘kiki’ and ‘takete’, whose pronunciation requires sharp inflection of the mouth. By contrast, still water, Brie, and Caramel Nibbles (chocolate-covered caramel) were all more strongly associated with rounded shapes and softer sounding, lower-pitched pseudo-words, such as ‘bouba’ and ‘maluma’. These results, which build on the classic literature on ‘sound symbolism’, have both theoretical and applied implications: On the one hand, they demonstrate that the phenomenon of sound symbolism extends beyond the visual modality, by showing that speech sounds carry meaning in the domain of flavour, and in terms of the oral-somatosensory attributes of foodstuffs as well. As a consequence, these results may also be useful on an applied level in terms of helping companies to design novel brand names and graphics for the packaging of their food and drink items that best connote the likely attributes of the product within.     

Effect of changes in pH on the release of flavour compounds from a soft drink-related model system

Citric acid and phosphoric acid were added in variable amounts to a soft drink model system to show their effect on the release of six flavour compounds. High concentrations of the acids decreased the release of esters, probably because of the presence of large amounts of the dissociated form of the acids. However, the same amounts of added citric acid had no effect on flavour release when pH was regulated with sodium hydroxide. Changes in pH values achieved by adding hydrochloric acid also had no effect on flavour release. These results indicate that pH values used in soft drinks do not affect the release of flavour molecules. It is more likely the citric acid and the phosphoric acid, particularly their dissociated forms, which decrease the release of the esters. The other flavour compounds were not affected.     

Prediction of odour and flavour acceptancies of white wines on the basis of their colour

The colour of Moravian white wines was evaluated instrumentally, using the trichromatic method, and by sensory analysis. The odour and flavour acceptancies could be predicted very well on the basis of sensory colour evaluation, and less efficiently by instrumental method. Consumers preferred wines with prevailing yellow hue, which was associated with sweet, fruity and floral flavour notes. Green hue was considered a negative factor, without any rational relation to negatively perceived flavour notes. Logarithmic relations fit moderately better experimental results than linear relations.     

白菜-胡萝卜汁复合饮料的研制

白菜和胡萝卜都是营养价值很高的蔬菜,白菜富含纤维素,胡萝卜富含β-胡萝卜索。白菜和胡萝卜的混合蔬菜汁虽然营养丰富,但其口味令一些消费者不愉快,为了获得更多消费者的青睐,添加柠檬香精、苹果香精、西瓜香精,使白菜一胡萝卜汁复合饮料不仅具有白菜和胡萝卜特有香气,而且稍带果味,呈淡橙黄色,口感爽滑,不仅味道醇美而且营养丰富,还具有保健的功效,适合各类人群食用,是一类蔬菜保健型饮料。     

翡翠的皮壳与内部颜色的关系探讨

翡翠皮壳的主色有黄色、白色、黑色和红色等,为翡翠的次生色。非主色常不规则分布,多为翡翠的原生色。具色调较深黄色皮壳的内部玉石常出现偏蓝绿色,偶见红色、黄色,主要由Fe2 /Fe3 致色;具色调较浅黄色皮壳的内部玉石常呈淡紫色,偶见淡绿色,其含Fe量较低,色调浅。具白色皮壳的内部玉石常出现白色或无色,其致色元素的质量分数低。具黑色皮壳的内部玉石可呈现鲜绿色、蓝灰绿色、茄紫色、灰白色及黑色,其成因多种。皮壳非主色中的绿色(俗称"松花")和黑色(俗称"癣")是内部原生色在皮壳的直接反映,根据其分布特点可以直接判断翡翠内部的颜色及其分布。     

粒粒橙饮料的研制

以柑桔为主要原料，对粒粒橙的生产工艺和生产配方进行了研究，得出了既保持柑桔的原有风味。使产品清凉爽口、酸甜适宜，又保证产品安全性的两次杀菌生产工艺。以及使产品稳定性好、果粒悬浮均匀、产品感观效果好的以琼脂为稳定剂的配方。     

Profile and levels of bioactive amines in orange juice and orange soft drink

The levels of bioactive amines, pH, soluble solids, acidity, specific gravity, and total sugars were determined in different brands of orange products. Nine amines were detected in orange juice at mean total levels of 53.5 mg l⁻¹. There were significant differences, among orange juice brands, in the levels of spermidine, synephrine, spermine, octopamine, pH and total acidity. Five amines were detected in soft drinks with mean total levels of 3.85 mg l⁻¹. There were significant differences, among orange soft drink brands, in the levels of most amines and the physicochemical characteristics. The predominant amine was putrescine, followed by synephrine and spermidine, in both orange juices and soft drinks. The levels of these amines in the soft drink varied from 5.0% to 7.6% of the mean levels in orange juice, suggesting that less than 10% of orange juice could have been used in the soft drink.