Overcoming the Taste Stigma of Soy

ABSTRACT: Can labels unknowingly influence a person's taste perceptions? Using a “phantom ingredient” taste test, the presence or absence of a labeled ingredient (soy) was shown to influence sensory evaluations of a food. In particular, a nutrition bar wrongly purporting to contain soy generated negative ratings of taste, aftertaste, and attitude, yet generated favorable ratings of its nutritiousness. Because there was actually no soy in the product, these differences represent biases caused by ingredient labeling. Given the appropriate segment of consumers (health‐oriented), ingredient labeling may have more favorable consequences. This power of suggestion might also be expanded to other ingredients or processes, such as those involving biotechnology or organic production.     

Potential effects of umami ingredients on human health: Pros and cons

Abstract

Umami taste is the most recent confirmed basic taste in addition to sour, sweet, bitter, and salty. It has been controversial because of its effects on human nutritional benefit. Based on the available literatures, this review categorized 13 positive and negative effects of umami taste on human health. On the positive side, umami taste can improve food flavor and consumption, improve nutrition intake of the elderly and patients, protect against duodenal cancer, reduce ingestion of sodium chloride, decrease consumption of fat, and improve oral functions. On the other hand, umami taste can also induce hepatotoxicity, cause asthma, induce migraine headaches, damage the nervous system, and promote obesity. Due to its novelty, there are many functions and effects of umami taste waiting to be discovered. With further investigation, more information regarding the effects of umami taste on human health will be discerned.     

草莓粗酶液促进发酵改善秋季红茶的理化品质

为了提高秋季红茶品质,采用草莓粗酶液促进红茶发酵,并对所制干茶的感官品质、滋味特征、化学成分和香气成分进行了比较分析。感官审评和电子舌结果表明,草莓粗酶液促进发酵,改善了秋季红茶的苦涩味,提升其香气品质。品质和香气成分分析表明,添加草莓粗酶液对茶多酚、可溶性糖、儿茶素组分、氨基酸含量及香气组分有着较大影响。与对照相比,草莓粗酶液与揉捻叶的质量比为10%时(CM3),红茶的茶多酚含量显著降低,其中C、ECG和EGCG的含量分别降低了30.92%、27.34%和17.87%,而可溶性糖、茶黄素含量分别增加了18.70%和15.93%,香气组分中脱氢芳樟醇、橙花叔醇分别增加了58.79%、61.67%,且芳樟醇、橙花醇、苯乙醛、β-蒎烯均在CM3时达到峰值,这些香气成分的增加极大地提高了红茶的香气。此外,CM3处理的红茶还表现出最强的DPPH自由基清除活性(IC_(50)=85.01±0.85μg/min)。综上所述,添加草莓粗酶液促进红茶发酵,能够改善秋季红茶的苦涩味,提升其香气品质,且添加比例为10%时,品质改善作用最为明显并增加了红茶的抗氧化活性。     

干腌火腿中肽的形成机理研究进展

干腌火腿加工过程中,在肌肉中内源酶和微生物的共同作用下,产生多种具有特定生物活性或对产品风味具有提升作用的肽。抗氧化肽、降血压肽和抗菌肽等生物活性肽提升火腿的营养价值;呈味肽如鲜味肽、甜味肽、苦味肽、酸味肽、咸味肽及浓厚感肽,有助于形成火腿独特的风味。该文综述了干腌火腿中肽的功能特性,重点对加工过程中肽的影响因素及形成机理进行介绍,为干腌火腿品质特性提升和新工艺设计提供理论参考依据。     

添加白酒对人工接种东北酸菜挥发性风味成分及感官特性的影响

该实验研究了添加白酒对人工接种乳酸菌发酵东北酸菜理化、挥发性风味成分及感官特性的影响。首先通过乙醇胁迫及产酸能力测定筛选混菌发酵剂,采用顶空固相微萃取（HS-SPME）结合气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）分析酸菜的挥发性风味成分,并结合感官评分与电子舌鉴定白酒对酸菜感官特性的影响。结果表明,植物乳杆菌（Lactobacillus plantarum）、干酪乳杆菌（Lactobacillus casei）和柠檬明串珠菌（Leuconostoc citreum）3株乳酸菌对乙醇具有一定耐受性且产酸能力较强。添加2%白酒结合3株乳酸菌混菌发酵酸菜的可滴定酸含量较未添加白酒的混菌发酵酸菜降低了4.02%。此外,添加白酒接种发酵酸菜形成了以酯类、酮类、含硫化合物和氨基酸为主的风味结构,并且提高了鲜味,降低了苦涩味,在颜色、味道和口感上均具有显著优势。为实现人工接种东北酸菜的品质提升提供理论基础。     

Glossopharyngeal nerve transection impairs unconditioned avoidance of diverse bitter stimuli in rats.

There is growing evidence of heterogeneity among responses to bitter stimuli at the peripheral, central and behavioral levels. For instance, the glossopharyngeal (GL) nerve and neurons receiving its projections are more responsive to bitter stimuli than the chorda tympani (CT) nerve, and this is particularly true for some bitter stimuli like PROP & cycloheximide that stimulate the GL to a far greater extent. Given this information, we hypothesized that cutting the GL would have a greater effect on behavioral avoidance of cycloheximide and PROP than quinine and denatonium, which also stimulate the CT, albeit to a lesser degree than salts and acids. Forty male SD rats were divided into four surgery groups: bilateral GL transection (GLX), chorda tympani transection (CTX), SHAM surgery, and combined transection (CTX + GLX). Postsurgical avoidance functions were generated for the four bitter stimuli using a brief-access test. GLX significantly compromised avoidance compared to both CTX and SHAM groups for all stimuli (p     

The effect on taste upon the introduction of heteroatoms in sulphamates

The effect on taste of introducing a heteroatom(s) in place of a carbon atom(s) in sulphamate tastants has been examined in this work. Seventy sets of heterosulphamates and their corresponding carbon analogues (130 compounds in total) were examined. This interesting database was assembled by bringing together series of heterocompounds and suitable nonhetero analogues from the literature, by the synthesis in this work of 15 new heterosulphamates and two new carbosulphamates, which was necessary “to match up” with known carbosulphamate analogues and by making taste predictions for ten carbosulphamates which are unknown, using existing well-established structure-taste relationships (SARs). A sulphur atom replaced a carbon atom in 18 cases, either oxygen or an –OH group replaced carbon in 16 cases, and there are 29 examples where a nitrogen atom or an –NH group replaced carbon. Finally, there are six instances of a “double carbon–carbon, nitrogen–nitrogen substitution” and one of a treble carbon, nitrogen substitution. The overall picture shows that in 33 instances no change in taste was found when substitution occurred, in 29 instances sweet taste (S) was removed giving a nonsweet compound (N), and in eight instances a nonsweet material (N) became sweet (S). Replacement of oxygen by sulphur resulted in the introduction of sweetness in three cases out of four examined. Several important findings were made and a number of new structure-taste relationships have been derived for heterosulphamates.     

Increased liking for a solution is not necessary for the attenuation of neophobia in rats.

Recent evidence suggests that liking and wanting of food rewards can be experimentally dissociated (e.g., Berridge, 1996); this dissociation extends to attenuated neophobia in the present study. Rats tend to eat less of a novel food than a familiar food, a phenomenon called neophobia. The present experiments evaluated whether attenuation of neophobia by prior exposure reflects enhanced liking of the flavor using the Taste Reactivity (TR) test. In Experiment 1, rats given five 10-s TR trials with water or various concentrations of saccharin solution (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5%) did not show a change in the number of hedonic reactions displayed across trials. However, in a subsequent consumption test from a bottle containing 0.25% saccharin solution, rats with no prior saccharin exposure (group water) consumed less than rats with prior saccharin exposure; that is they displayed neophobia. In Experiment 2, whether rats received five 10-s TR trials with water or 0.5% saccharin solution, they did not display a difference in hedonic reactions to 0.25% saccharin solution in two 5-min TR test trials. These results suggest that the attenuation of neophobia is evidenced as an increase in the tendency to approach a bottle containing the flavored solution (wanting), but not as an enhanced liking of that solution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of microgravity and space flight on the chemical senses

ABSTRACT: The effect of space flight and microgravity on the chemical senses is reviewed. Skylab-4 and Soyuz 30–31 studies revealed changes in taste thresholds while no effect was found in a Canadian investigation (41-G) and conflicting results were obtained on another Soyuz mission. Two simulated microgravity studies found no effect on taste or smell sensitivity; while 5 other studies found an effect. Microgravity induces physiological changes including an upward shift of body fluids toward the head, which may lead to an attenuation of the olfactory component in the flavor of foods. Chemosensory changes may also relate to space sickness, Shuttle atmosphere, stress, radiation, and psychological factors.