Effects of different carbon sources and C/N values on nonvolatile taste components of Pleurotus eryngii

Pleurotus eryngii, the second largest industrial cultivation mushroom in China, is usually cultivated on substrates mainly consisting of sawdust and corncob. In this study, experiments were performed to determine the effects of different carbon sources and C/N values on nonvolatile taste components of P. eryngii. The effects of different carbon sources on nonvolatile taste components levels revealed that sawdust was beneficial to high levels of crude protein, amino acids, 5′‐nucleotides and equivalent umami concentration, while corncob was beneficial to high contents of carbohydrate, polysaccharides and trehalose. At the similar C/N values, relatively higher sawdust content was beneficial to umami amino acid production, while relatively higher corncob content was beneficial to high contents of carbohydrate, polysaccharides and mannitol. Higher C/N value was beneficial to high levels of crude protein, amino acids, 5′‐nucleotides and equivalent umami concentration, while lower C/N value was beneficial to high contents of carbohydrate, polysaccharides and trehalose. These results provided information for P. eryngii fruit body industrial cultivation to obtain specific nonvolatile taste components with high levels.     

Encapsulated sodium supplementation of 4 weeks does not alter salt taste preferences in a controlled low sodium and low potassium diet

Preference for saltiness is learned by oral exposure to salt taste; however, some data suggest a role for bodily sodium and potassium levels on salt taste preferences as well. The objective was to investigate whether encapsulated sodium and potassium supplementation lead to altered salt taste responses among adults with high blood pressure on a low sodium and low potassium diet. Twenty-six participants with untreated upper-range prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension were on a fully controlled low sodium and low potassium diet (both targeted at 2 g/day) for 13 weeks. Participants received capsules with sodium (3 g/d), potassium (3 g/d), or placebo, for 4 weeks each, in randomized order in a double blind crossover design. Sensory evaluation was done before and after each supplementation period and involved ratings of pleasantness and intensity in different salt (NaCl) concentrations in food and water, desire-to-eat salty food, and detection threshold for NaCl. Neither sodium supplementation nor potassium supplementation led to alterations in salt taste responses in food and water, and did not affect detection threshold (P = 0.59). There was no clear role for sodium or potassium supplementation on desire-to-eat salty food. In addition, we did not find effects of reduced oral exposure to salt over weeks, through the sodium-reduced diet, on salt taste preferences, in contrast to earlier studies. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest preference for saltiness is independent of changes in bodily sodium or potassium levels.     

禅宗解脱:宗教经验的审美化

禅宗解脱的实质是生命的自由。通过明心见性、转迷入悟的途径,心灵摆脱烦恼业障,进入无我境界,从而体验到一种想象的自由。这一过程在很多方面类似审美活动,在体验上具有审美自由的特征。但禅宗的解脱,以及解脱所达到的审美的人生境界之可能,其关键在于生命主体的自我消解。无我的或曰没有主体的自由,并不是一种真正的自由。因而,禅宗关于人的解放的理论和实践,其价值仅仅在宗教方面和美学方面。     

Automatic playlist generation based on tracking user’s listening habits

Algorithms for automatic playlist generation solve the problem of tedious and time consuming manual selection of musical playlists. These algorithms generate playlists according to the user’s music preferences of the moment. The user describes his preferences either by manually inputting a couple of example songs, or by defining constraints for the choice of music. The approaches to automatic playlist generation up to now were based on examining the metadata attached to the music pieces. Some of them took also the listening history into account. But anyway, a heavy accent has been put on the metadata, while the listening history, if it was used at all, had a minor role. Missings and errors in metadata frequently appear, especially when the music is acquired from the Internet. When the metadata is missing or wrong, the approaches proposed so far cannot work. Besides, entering constraints for the playlist generation can be a difficult activity. In our approach we ignored the metadata and focused on examining the listening habits. We developed two simple algorithms that track the listening habits and form a listener model—a profile of listening habits. The listener model is then used for automatic playlist generation. We developed a simple media player which tracks the listening habits and generates playlists according to the listener model. We tried the solution with a group of users. The experiment was not a successful one, but it threw some new light on the relationship between the listening habits and playlist generation.     

Persistence of conditioned flavor preferences is not due to inadvertent food reinforcement.

Almond preferences were produced by giving rats a mixture of almond and sucrose (Experiments 1-4) or saccharin (Experiment 4). A subsequent extinction procedure consisted of either repeated 2-bottle almond versus water tests (Experiment 1) or repeated exposure to almond alone (Experiments 2-4). The main independent variable was whether access to food following a session was given immediately, 30 min later, or 120 min later. No effect of extinction was found in any experiment. An important finding was that varying the delay until food access had no detectable effect. It was concluded that inadvertent flavor-food associations do not maintain preference for the flavor under extinction conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of viscosity on the bitterness and astringency of grape seed tannin

To examine the separate effects of viscosity and sweetness on astringency, aqueous solutions of grape seed tannin (GST) were thickened with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) from 2 to 45 cP (experiment 1) or sweetened with 0 to 1.8 g/L aspartame (experiment 2). Trained subjects continuously rated astringency and bitterness in duplicate. Subjects were categorized by the salivary flow induced by citric acid and ability to taste n-propyl thiouracil (PROP). In experiment 1, maximum intensity and total duration of astringency were significantly decreased as viscosity rose, although time to maximum intensity of astringency was not affected. Maximum intensity and total duration of bitterness were not significantly affected by increasing viscosity; however, the onset of bitterness was significantly delayed. In experiment 2, increasing sweetness had no affect on any astringency parameter, although maximum intensity of bitterness was significantly decreased. Neither PROP nor salivary flow-status had any effect on perception of bitterness or astringency in either experiment.     

Influence of Storage Time and Temperature on Absorption of Flavor Compounds from Solutions by Plastic Packaging Materials

ABSTRACT: Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), oriented polypropylene (OPP), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET film and PET bottle), and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) were stored in a model solution containing 10 flavor compounds at 4, 20, and 40 °C and flavor absorption by the plastic materials was followed in time. The absorption rate and/or total amount absorbed increased considerably with temperature from 4 to 40 °C. Depending on storage temperature, total flavor absorption by the polyolefins (LLDPE and OPP) was 3 to 2400 times higher than by the polyesters (PC, PET, and PEN). Therefore, in the factor of flavor absorption, polyesters are preferred over polyolefins as packaging material.     

地理环境与先秦南北饮食文化

先秦时期是我国饮食文化的形成时期，受地理环境的强烈影响，逐渐形成了以秦岭-淮河一线为界的南北两个主要的饮食文化区域：黄河中下游地区为中心的北方饮食文化区，是以旱地粮食作物黍、稷、粟等为主食，陆地动物为辅食，烧、烤、炸为主要烹饪方法的北方饮食风味；长江中下游地区为中心的南方饮食文化区，是以水田粮食作物稻米为主食，陆地动物和水产动植物为辅食，蒸、炖、煎为主要烹饪方法的南方饮食风味。