The effect of modifying the distribution of sucralose and quinine on bitterness suppression in model gels

This study investigated the effect of simultaneously manipulating the spatial distribution of a sweet masking agent and bitter tastant within gelatine–agar gels on bitterness suppression, using sucralose and quinine. Sixty subjects participated in a series of paired comparison tests comparing different gel designs containing both sucralose and quinine, against a homogeneous control gel of identical overall sucralose (0.3 mM) and quinine content (0.3 mM). Twenty subjects also determined the bitterness reduction achieved in the homogeneous control gel by the addition of 0.3 mM sucralose to 0.3 mM quinine. Separating quinine and sucralose into different portions of the gel had no influence on bitterness suppression. Inhomogeneously distributing the quinine and sucralose into the same parts of the gel reduced the effectiveness of bitterness suppression. Inhomogeneously distributing the sucralose, while maintaining a homogeneous distribution of quinine, had no influence on bitterness suppression. Although an inhomogeneous distribution of sucralose increased sweetness perception and the addition of sucralose (0.3 mM) was found to substantially reduce bitterness in the homogeneous control, bitterness suppression was not enhanced when distributing the masking agent (sucralose) inhomogeneously.     

AGAR AND GELATIN GEL FLAVOR RELEASE

The taste suppression and rupture properties of 0.8-2.0% w/w agar gel and 3.0-6.5% w/w gelatin gel were studied by sensory evaluation and objective measurement. Flavor compound concentrations were determined to equalize the intensity of aspartame sweetness (0.02% w/w for both agar and gelatin gels), sodium chloride saltiness (0.9% w/w for agar gel and 0.2% w/w for gelatin gel), and caffeine bitterness (0.08% w/w for agar gel and 0.07% w/w for gelatin gel) in 1% w/w agar gel and 4.5% w/w gelatin gel. The coefficient of taste intensity = (concentration of flavor compound in the aqueous solution of equiintense taste in gel)/(concentration of flavor compound in gel) was used to compare the difference in gel taste suppression. The coefficient of saltiness intensity of 3.0% w/w gelatin gel exceeded 1.0, and those of other gels were below 1.0. The suppressed variation of the coefficient of saltiness intensity in agar gel was significantly (P<0.01) smaller than that of bitterness depending on agar concentration. No significant differences (P>0.05) in taste suppression between gelatin gels containing the 3 flavor compounds due to changes in gelatin concentration were observed. Rupture energy, which is related to mastication and is a common scale for agar and gelatin gels, was used to evaluate changes in suppression of the coefficient of taste intensities of the 2 gels. The coefficient of bitterness intensity of agar gels was more significantly (P<0.01) suppressed than sweetness and saltiness intensities of gelatin gels. The coefficient of sweetness intensity of gelatin gels was suppressed significantly less than bitterness (P < 0.05) of gelatin gels and sweetness (P < 0.05) and bitterness (P < 0.01) of agar gels.     

Effect of gel texture and sucrose spatial distribution on sweetness perception

Layered gels differing in mechanical and breakdown properties (soft, medium and hard gels) and in the distribution of sucrose in the matrix (homogeneous and inhomogeneous distributions) were used to investigate the effects of texture and spatial distribution of sucrose on sweetness perception. Rating tests, 2-Alternative forced choice tests and time-intensity analysis were performed to compare the sweetness of soft, medium and hard gels with homogeneous and inhomogeneous distributions of sucrose. Results showed that all gels with an inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose were perceived sweeter than gels in which sucrose was homogeneously distributed. This indicates that the enhancement of sweetness by an inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose does not depend on the texture of the gel matrix. Furthermore, the time-intensity profiling showed that soft gels, which had low values of fracture strain and fracture stress and broke down in a large number of small fragments upon chewing, had the highest sweetness intensity. The time required to reach the maximum sweetness intensity tended to be shorter in soft gels. These findings suggest that the breakdown behavior of the gel matrix during oral processing affects the perception of sweetness of layered gels.     

Inhomogeneous distribution of fat enhances the perception of fat-related sensory attributes in gelled foods

This study investigated the effect of the spatial distribution of fat on the perception of fat-related sensory attributes using a model system that consisted of layered agar/gelatin gels containing oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion droplets dispersed in the gel matrix. Four layers of gel varying in the amount of emulsion droplets were combined to prepare samples with homogeneous and inhomogeneous distributions of fat (emulsion droplets). The composition of the gels was optimized to obtain samples with comparable mechanical properties.     

Compression resistance,sweetener's diffusion and sweetness of hydrocolloids gels

The effects of the type and concentration of two hydrocolloids—κ-carrageenan and gellan gum—and of the type and concentration of two sweeteners—sucrose and aspartame—on the gel resistance to compression, on the sweetener diffusion and on the intensity of the gel sweetness and the relationships between the gel physical properties and their perceived sweetness were studied. The gels true rupture stress increased with hydrocolloid concentration, this increase being higher for gellan gels. Gellan gels showed lower true rupture strain values, which in contrast with carrageenan gels, decreased on increasing hydrocolloid concentration. The addition of sucrose produced a bigger increase in gel strength at the higher hydrocolloid concentration. The main effect detected on the sweeteners’ diffusion constant was the higher value observed in low concentration (3 g L⁻¹) κ-carrageenan gels. Gellan gels were perceived as sweeter than κ-carrageenan gels. The decrease in sweetness due to an increase in hydrocolloid concentration was greater in gellan than in carrageenan gels. Variations in sweetener concentration, true rupture strain, and deformability modulus values explained 93% of the variability in sweetness for gels with sucrose and 94% for gels with aspartame.     

Evaluation of the time-dependent stability of starch-hydrocolloid binary gels involving NMR relaxation time measurements

A novel, non-destructive method of evaluation of the time-dependent stability of starch gels and binary starch-non-starchy hydrocolloid gels is presented. The low-field NMR technique applied provided the following results. On storage at room temperature, binary potato starch gels with xanthan gum are more stable in time than gels with guar gum and κ-carrageenan. Xanthan and guar gums as well as κ-carrageenan are dispensable as stabilizers of stored potato starch gel and building the cassava gel structure lasted over 96 h. In the binary system with cassava starch, guar gum performed best regardless storage temperature. At room temperature, admixture of hydrocolloids to plain cornstarch gels resulted in remove of water molecules from the gel network. Stabilization of cornstarch gels with hydrocolloids was, practically, dispensable and even non-beneficial regardless storage temperature. None among tested hydrocolloids stabilized the oat starch gel. On cold storage, κ-carrageenan performed best.     

Long-term storage stability of selected potato starch – Non-starchy hydrocolloid binary gels

All 3, 4 and 5% potato starch gels containing either κ-carrageenan, guar gum or xanthan gum were prepared and their stability in terms of rheological and textural properties was checked on 30 day storage. It was shown that rheology of these binary potato starch – non-starchy hydrocolloid mixtures could be controlled by anionic character of the admixed hydrocolloid. Depending on the hydrocolloid added, gels made of the tuber starch can either retain their pattern typical for tuber starches or turn into that typical for gels of cereal starches. Hydrocolloids added plasticity to the binary gels but it was lost to a significant extent within the first day of storage. Resulting gels with dominating elastic character are rheologically and texturally fairly stable for subsequent 30 days of storage. Generally, hydrocolloids stabilized potato starch gel on long-time storage to the extent dependent on the gel concentration.     

Influence of the texture of gelatin gels and pectin gels on strawberry flavour release and perception

The release of strawberry flavour compounds from pectin gels and gelatin gels was evaluated by instrumental and sensory analysis. Three gel textures were established based on Young’s modulus of elasticity (E) for each gel. The E of the low, medium and high rigidity gelatine and pectin gels was 181, 300 and 493 N m⁻², respectively. Air/gel partition coefficients were determined by static headspace analysis. In-nose/proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry analysis produced temporal release profiles. Sensory analysis was conducted to assess perceived odour, thickness, strawberry flavour and sweetness using magnitude estimation. The type of hydrocolloid affected static and in-nose compound concentrations significantly. The pectin gels showed lower air/gel partition coefficients than the gelatin gels, but increased flavour release. Increased gel rigidity resulted in lower air/gel partition coefficients; higher maximum concentrations of volatiles and lower release rates during in-nose analysis; decreased perception of odour, strawberry flavour and sweetness; and higher intensity ratings for thickness in sensory analysis. Consequently, both type of hydrocolloid and rigidity of the sample greatly affected flavour release and perception.     

EFFECT OF OTHER HYDROCOLLOIDS ON THE TEXTURE OF KAPPA CARRAGEENAN GELS1

The effect of different hydrocolloids on the breaking strength, cohesiveness and rigidity of kappa carrageenan gels was studied using comression tests with the Instron. Instrumental measurements were supplemented with benchtop sensory evaluation of texture by mouth, gel clarity and syneresis. The evaluated hydrocolloids included locust bean gum, iota carrageenan, amidated low methoxyl pectin, xanthan gum, and their selected combinations. Best gels were obtained by using 0.15% kappa carrageenan and 0.85% iota carrageenan, or 0.2% kappa carrageenan, 0.2% locust bean gum and 0.6% amidated LM pectin. Although none duplicated the textural quality of gelatine gels, they represented a wide range of interesting and potentially useful textures.     

亲水胶体对石蒜淀粉糊特性的影响

为改善石蒜淀粉的加工品质特性,系统研究亲水胶体对石蒜淀粉溶胀能力、糊化特性、冻融稳定性及流变特性的影响。添加亲水胶体后,石蒜淀粉膨胀力均有所下降,除魔芋胶外,混合体系的溶解度均有所提高;亲水胶体有效抑制了淀粉的回生,使冻融稳定性增强,其中黄原胶效果较明显。糊化性质表明亲水胶体的加入使峰值时间和成糊温度升高,峰值黏度、崩解值和回生值降低,提高了石蒜淀粉的热稳定性和冷稳定性。静态流变实验结果表明：Herschel-Bulkley方程能很好拟合稳态流变曲线,加入亲水性胶体后体系仍为典型的假塑性流体,除阿拉伯胶外,其他胶体的添加均不同程度地降低了淀粉凝胶的触变性。动态流变实验结果表明所有样品体系G’均大于G”,且呈现出频率依赖性,说明具有典型的弱凝胶特性。加入亲水胶体能保持淀粉体系内部结构稳定,增强其抗剪切性。因此,亲水胶体可以一定程度改善石蒜淀粉糊的性质,且与亲水胶体的种类、结构有关。     

Sweetening power of aspartame in hydrocolloids gels: Influence of texture

Equivalent sweetness of aspartame relative to two sucrose concentrations (10% and 20% w/w) were determined in water and in hydrocolloids gels. The influence of the texture of three hydrocolloids gelled systems—gellan gum, κ-carrageenan, and κ-carrageenan/locust bean gum (LBG)—at two gums concentrations (0.3% and 1.2% w/w) on the equivalent sweetness of aspartame were then studied. For the three gelled systems, the increase in hydrocolloid concentration produced a significant increase in the true rupture stress and in the deformability modulus values. For both κ-carrageenan and mixed gels the true rupture strain values increased when increasing hydrocolloid concentration while for gellan gels, decreased. For the same hydrocolloid concentrations the κ-carrageenan/LBG gels showed the largest strain at rupture and gellan gels the smallest (most brittle). For both soft (0.3% gum) and hard (1.2% gum) gellan gels and κ-carrageenan gels, the concentrations of aspartame needed to deliver a sweetness intensity equivalent to that of gels with 10% sucrose (0.079–0.087% w/w) were similar to those obtained for aqueous solutions (0.084% w/v). For hard κ-carrageenan/LBG gels the corresponding concentration of aspartame was slightly lower. For all gelled systems the concentrations of aspartame needed to deliver a sweetness intensity equivalent to that of gels with 20% sucrose were higher for soft gels than for hard gels.     

Enhancement of sweetness intensity in gels by inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose

Model systems consisting of layers of mixed agar/gelatin gel were used to investigate the effect of the spatial distribution of sucrose on perceived sweetness intensity. 2-Alternative forced choice tests were performed with consumers to compare the sweetness of layered samples with an inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose to the sweetness of a reference sample with a homogeneous distribution. All samples had the same overall sucrose concentration (10%) and similar mechanical and rheological properties. Inhomogeneous samples that had large concentration gradients of sucrose between layers were perceived sweeter than the homogeneous reference. No differences in sweetness were observed between the reference and samples with small concentration gradients of sucrose. Additionally, the position of the layers containing sucrose did not affect sweetness. Results showed that an inhomogeneous distribution of sucrose can be used to reduce sucrose content by 20% without a decrease in sweetness intensity.     

淀粉—亲水性胶体之间相互作用研究进展

该文主要从亲水性胶体对淀粉糊化性质、流变学性质、热性质影响及不同盐、糖对淀粉―亲水性胶体混合凝胶体系作用研究入手;综述亲水性胶体与淀粉间相互作用可能机理,并对淀粉―亲水性胶体混合凝胶体系在食品中应用进行介绍。     

Compressive textural attributes, opacity and syneresis of gels prepared from gellan, agar and their mixtures

Gellan, agar and their mixed gels at an equal proportion of both were subjected to uniaxial compression to determine the textural attributes including fracture characteristics, opacity and syneresis. An increase in concentration of hydrocolloids increased opacity but decreased syneresis. Highly transparent gellan gels with opacity less than 8% were obtained; opacity of agar gels was highest, and was between 5% and 30% for their mixed gels. Syneresis as low as 1.5% was observed with the mixed gel containing 2% each of agar and gellan. The maximum stress and energy for compression increased with the level of gelling agents while instantaneous relaxation in height decreased. Binary combinations or mixed gels containing agar and gellan can provide unique textural and physical characteristics like syneresis and opacity.     

亲水胶体在鱼糜制品中的应用研究进展

鱼糜制品是以鱼糜为主要原料,经过斩拌、擂溃、成型、凝胶化等过程制成的高蛋白、低脂肪的产品。亲水胶体是从植物和海藻中提取或由微生物合成的高分子多聚糖。亲水胶体可改善鱼糜制品中的凝胶特性。亲水胶体对不同鱼种的鱼糜凝胶强度的影响与亲水胶体的种类及其作用方式密切相关。本文综述了鱼糜制品及其凝胶形成的机理、亲水胶体的种类和功能特性,阐述了亲水胶体对鱼糜凝胶特性的作用机理及其在鱼糜制品中的应用现状,并提出未来的研究方向。     

甜味料和亲水胶体对酸改性淀粉凝胶粘度及质构的影响

本文研究了各种甜味料(蔗糖、淀粉糖浆、山梨糖醇、麦芽糖醇、异麦芽糖醇)和亲水胶体(魔芋胶、琼脂、结冷胶、海藻酸钠、罗望子胶、果胶、阿拉伯胶、卡拉胶)对酸改性淀粉糊的粘度、凝胶体强度、质构的影响.结果表明:相同浓度甜味料和不同浓度(0.1％～0.5％)的胶体对酸改性淀粉协同增粘作用的大小顺序分别为:山梨糖醇＞异麦芽糖醇＞...     

EFFECTS OF DIMENSIONS OF AGAR AND GELATIN GELS ON PALATAL PRESSURE PATTERNS

Eating of agar and gelatin gels in the mouth was studied dynamically in detail. The palatal presures on agar and gelatin gels of various concentrations and dimensions were detected by pressure transducers installed at three locations of the palate. For each of the gels, Pm (the maximum palatal pressure at the initial stage of mastication), P (the mean palatal pressure), W (work), and T (retaining time in the mouth) changed significantly when their concentrations increased. Moreover, gel dimensions also affected Pm, P and W. For a bite-size gel, Pm, P and W increased or remained constant, while for a finer sized gel, Pm, P and W were nearly constant regardless of the increase in rupture strength or gel concentration.     

亲水性胶体对大米淀粉流变与回生性的影响

为改善基于大米淀粉的食品品质和抑制其回生,系统研究了卡拉胶、阿拉伯胶和果胶对大米淀粉糊化、流变和回生性的影响。卡拉胶和果胶的添加显著增大了大米淀粉峰值与谷值黏度;所有胶体均降低淀粉的最终黏度和回生值,果胶最为明显。动态黏弹性结果表明,淀粉凝胶为典型弱凝胶体系,卡拉胶和果胶对储能模量G’和损耗模量G’’的影响大于阿拉伯胶。采用幂率模型拟合了稳态流动曲线,淀粉与亲水性胶体共混体系表现为典型的假塑性流体特性。差示扫描量热结果表明,所有胶体均提高了大米淀粉凝胶在冷藏条件下的稳定性,阿拉伯胶降低凝胶长期回生度的趋势最为明显。综合来看,果胶和卡拉胶可能与直链淀粉分子形成氢键作用和相互缠绕,减弱体系流动性;阿拉伯胶在结构上形成阻隔作用并减弱分子间氢键,减缓淀粉分子的缔合和回生。     

Taste interaction of ethyl alcohol with sweet, salty, sour and bitter compounds

The influence of ethyl alcohol in concentrations ranging from 4 to 24%, on the perceived taste intensities of sucrose, citric acid, quinine, and sodium chloride was determined by 24 subjects. A paired comparison method was used in which subjects selected the sample with the greater taste intensity (sweetness, sourness, bitterness or saltiness) as well as rating the intensity on a 13-point scale. The alcohol generally enhanced the sweetness of sucrose, with results varying slightly according to the subjects' task. The sourness of citric acid, and the saltiness of sodium chloride at all but the lowest concentration, were depressed by increasing additions of alcohol. Alcohol significantly enhanced the bitterness of quinine at all four concentrations. Although these results disagree with previously reported electrophysiological measurements on alcohol-quinine mixtures, they were internally consistent, and meaningful in terms of alcoholic beverage consumption behaviour.