The role of saliva in taste perception and food preferences

communication oraleabsen

(PL6) From eating to liking: Saliva, the missing link

abstract of plenary talkDuring the experience of eating, saliva is the first fluid meeting the food introduced into the mouth. During mastication, saliva and food interact strongly and mix together to form the bolus. The contribution. of saliva to the final volume of the bolus can even be higher than the volume of the food itself. It is. therefore not the food itself that is perceived when consumed but the mixture of food and saliva. However, the role of saliva in perception is not totally elucidated yet. Saliva plays various roles in food perception. First of all, it allows the release of taste and aroma. compounds from the food matrix in the oral cavity. Availability of these compounds for perception. depends in particular on the volume and the physico-chemical properties of the fluid (viscosity, pH…). In. addition, saliva contains enzymes targeted against macronutrients. These activities (amylolytic, lipolytic. and proteolytic) may have direct impacts on food matrix degradation and may be implicated in taste or. flavour compounds release. Finally, saliva also contains molecules that can be directly perceived such as. salts for instance. It is important to notice that variability in human saliva composition is high. It can be inter-individual. variability linked to genetic or lifestyle factors and intra-individual variability linked to circadian and. seasonal rhythms or to the nature and the intensity of a sensory stimulation. Such variability is also. common in sensory perception. So, considering the role of saliva in perception, an interesting challenge is. to establish a possible link between saliva composition, perception and acceptability of food. The aim of this lecture is to explore whether saliva composition contributes to the variability of sensory. taste and flavour perception, or even to liking

Taste and oral microbiota

International audienc

La saveur des aliments : à vos papilles !: L'Inra au SIA 2016. Alimentation, agriculture, innovation

Site INRA - Portail actus - Grand public - Dossiers Interview le 19 février 2016Faites-vous plaisir ! Avec une pause dégustation à la découverte des saveurs. L’équipe dijonnaise du Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation vous accueille sur l’espace « La science a du goût ! » du stand Inra. Les aliments et les boissons que nous consommons contiennent de nombreuses molécules responsables de leur « goût ». Certaines de ces molécules sont détectées par les bourgeons du goût, des petites structures qui se trouvent dans les papilles gustatives, ces protubérances qui tapissent notre langue. C’est ainsi que nous percevons les saveurs bien connues que sont le sucré, le salé, l’acide, l’amer ainsi que l’umami, moins connu. À Dijon, le Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation est une unité de recherche multidisciplinaire qui s’intéresse à la régulation du comportement alimentaire et en particulier à la perception des saveurs depuis les mécanismes moléculaires de détection jusqu’à la construction des préférences alimentaires. L'objectif de ces recherches consiste à sélectionner des édulcorants naturels ; proposer des recommandations pour réduire la consommation de sucre et de sel tout en maintenant le plaisir de manger. Quels sont les sites de liaison des molécules sapides sur les récepteurs gustatifs ? Quels sont les facteurs qui modulent notre sensibilité aux saveurs ? Quel est l’effet des expositions précoces aux saveurs sur les préférences des enfants ? Quelle relation entre attirance pour le goût sucré et choix alimentaires ? Comment évoluent les mécanismes de perception gustative au cours de la vie et/ou sous l’influence de pathologies ? [u]Sur le stand[/u] - Une animation « découverte des 4 saveurs » (sucré, salé, acide, amer). - Toutes les explications sur la physiologie des saveurs, en lien avec des aliments du quotidien, et de la cinquième saveur : l’umami. - Une expérience d’analyse sensorielle sur l’attirance pour le goût sucré

TOM: Taste and Oral Microbiota

International audienc

Salivary lipolytic activity seems to modulate the basal free fatty acid concentration in human saliva

International audienceThe perception of fat is a complex sensation that involves various sensory modalities, such as texture, aroma and taste. Taste perception is supported by the discovery of fatty acid receptors in the tongue papillae. However, dietary fat is mainly composed of esterified fatty acids, whereas only free fatty acids can bind to taste receptors. In this context, the literature often mentioned the necessity and efficiency of a salivary lipolytic activity to hydrolyse the esterified fatty acids present in foods and enable fat perception. We made a complementary hypothesis in which salivary lipolytic activity is also involved in regulating the basal level of salivary fatty acids in saliva. To test this hypothesis, we measured total fatty acid (TFA) and free fatty acid (FFA ) concentrations and selected salivary characteristics (such as lipolytic activity) in the resting saliva of 54 subjects. We found differences in the TFA and FFA profiles, with TFA and FFA concentrations of 8.99 and 3.56 µg/mL of saliva, respectively. Lipolytic activity was strongly and significantly positively correlated with FFA concentration (0.52, p<0.001) but not with TFA concentration. In conclusion, this result highlights a possible physiological role of salivary lipolytic activity in the regulation of the basal FFA concentration. This regulation could be involved in fat taste perception

Role of saliva in oral food perception

Saliva is the first fluid that comes into contact with food during oral processing. Because saliva is the medium that bathes the taste receptors, is the fluid through which taste and aroma compounds are released into the oral cavity and is mixed continuously with food during bolus formation, it is an essential actor in oral chemosensory perception. The complexity of saliva composition, with compounds originating from different salivary glands, from gingival crevicular fluid, from micro-organisms and from food debris, together with its variable nature increases the possibilities for interactions with food compounds and for different roles in perception. These factors are increasingly being taken into account in current research on food perception. The aim of this paper is to review the principal roles of saliva in oral perception, with particular focus on chemosensory perception. These include the protection of taste buds, the effects of flow rates, salivary hormones, electrolytes and organic compounds, and finally the impact of perception on salivary secretions. (c) 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel

Impact of very hot drink consumption habits, age, and sex, on taste sensitivity

International audienceThe temperature range for consuming hot drinks includes temperatures that can damage cells on the tongue. We hypothesized that the consumption of very hot drinks can lead to a decrease in the ability to perceive low concentrations of tastants. We evaluated the ability to perceive low concentrations of five prototypical sapid compounds in 42 women and 40 men aged 18–65. A questionnaire made it possible to collect the usual frequencies (number of unit/day) and consumption temperature levels (medium hot/very hot) for four very common hot drinks (coffee, tea, herbal infusions, and hot chocolate). Our results showed that subjects who consumed very hot drinks (versus medium hot) were less sensitive to sweet (p = 0.020) and salty (p = 0.046) tastes. An aggravating effect of high consumption frequencies was only shown for sweet taste (p = 0.036). Moreover, our data also showed that women were more sensitive than men to sour, bitter, and umami tastes (p values < 0.05), as well as that taste sensitivity decreases with age, especially after 50 years old (all tastes; p values < 0.05). These findings strengthen our knowledge about the influence of sex and age on taste sensitivity, and they provide knowledge on the influence of consumption habits related to hot drinks on taste sensitivity

Prédire le goût en le modélisant

National audienceLes sensations provoquées par un aliment font intervenir divers paramètres. En modélisant ce processus, on espère créer des outils facilitant la formulation de nouveaux produits

Influence de la physiologie orale sur la perception gustative

CLERMONT FD-BCIU Sci.et Tech. (630142101) / SudocSudocFranceF