The effect of high hydrostatic pressure on some quality parameters of a traditional tortellini-like Turkish food (mantı) packed with at modified atmosphere

Traditional cereal-based foods need to be thoroughly processed to fulfill the transportation conditions to distant locations. The present study examines the combined use of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) processes in mantı, a traditional tortellini-like Turkish food. After the mantı’s inner material and dough were separately processed with a HHP treatment at 400 MPa and 600 MPa, the mantı was prepared, and packaged under the modified atmosphere (60% CO2 + 40% N2) and stored for 14 days at 4°C. Also, the thermal inactivation was examined of inoculated mantı samples with bacterial cells of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. The differences of physicochemical and microbial results were found significant (P < 0.05) among the samples, as affected by high pressure at the modified atmosphere package. In case of the consumer sensory evaluation regarding cooking, HHP processed samples (HHPR) were more liked than semi-processed (CR) samples (stored for 14 days at 4°C). Inoculated bacterial cells to mantı samples exhibited varying inactivation responds at different temperatures (55 to 75°C) of heat treatment. As a result, it has been found that the high hydrostatic pressure treatment is a promising process for the mantı packaged in the modified atmosphere, extending the 7-day storage time compared to the untreated control sample

Polysaccharide food matrices for controlling the release, retention and perception of flavours

Polysaccharides have many roles across both the food and pharmaceutics industries. They are commonly used to enhance viscosity, stabilise emulsions and to add bulk to food products. In the pharmaceutics industry, they are also utilised for their mucoadhesive nature. Mucoadhesive polysaccharides can facilitate retention of active ingredients at mucosal sites for a prolonged time and formulations can be designed to control their release and bioavailability. This study investigates how polysaccharides, with differing physicochemical properties (e.g. functional groups and molecular weight), affect the release and perception of flavour compounds from films. Polysaccharide films were prepared using either high or low viscosity carboxymethyl cellulose, pullulan or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Glucose, vanillin or a combination of both was also added to the films to assess the effect of flavour release and perception over time. The films were assessed for glucose release in vitro, swelling and disintegration times, and mucoadhesive ability. Results show that flavour release and perception depend on the polysaccharide matrix properties; this includes how quickly the films dissolves, the rate of release of tastant compounds, and the mucoadhesive strength of the polysaccharide. A higher viscosity and slower disintegration time resulted in slower release of glucose in vitro and flavour perception in vivo

Investigating perception and liking of non-nutritive sweeteners in individuals representing different taste receptor genotypes

This study investigates whether variations in taste receptor genotypes account for differences in perception and liking of the non-nutritive sweeteners sucralose and Rebaudioside A (RebA). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of sweet taste re-ceptor subunits TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 (8 SNPs), bitter taste receptors TAS2R4 and TAS2R14 (2 SNPs), and carbonic anhydrase 6 (CA6, GUSTIN) were studied. Consumer liking and perception of apple beverages varying in sucralose or RebA concentration were measured. Of the sweet receptor SNPs, TAS1R2 rs12137730 had a significant effect on sweet perception of sucralose beverages. No sweet taste receptor SNPs had any significant effect on liking. The bitter taste receptor SNP TAS2R4 rs2234001, how-ever, significantly affected bitter perception of stevia beverages; the more bitter sensitive consumers, homozygous for the GG allele, liked the RebA-sweetened drinks substantially but not significantly less than the homozygous CC group

Sensory profiles and consumer acceptability of a range of sugar-reduced products on the UK market

Current UK intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) is above recommendations. Reducing the sugar content of processed high sugar foods through reformulation is one option for reducing consumption of NMES at a population level. However, reformulation can alter the sensory attributes of food products and influence consumer liking. This study evaluated consumer acceptance of a selection of products that are commercially-available in the UK; these included regular and sugar-reduced baked beans, strawberry jam, milk chocolate, cola and cranberry & raspberry juice. Sweeteners were present in the reformulated chocolate (maltitol), cola (aspartame and acesulfame-K) and juice (sucralose) samples. Healthy, non-smoking consumers (n = 116; 55 men, 61 women, age: 33 ± 9 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m2) rated the products for overall liking and on liking of appearance, flavor and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. There were significant differences between standard and reduced sugar products in consumers’ overall liking and on liking of each modality (appearance, flavor and texture; all P < 0.0001). For overall liking, only the regular beans and cola were significantly more liked than their reformulated counterparts (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis identified three consumer clusters that were representative of different patterns of consumer liking. For the largest cluster (cluster 3: 45%), there was a significant difference in mean liking scores across all products, except jam. Differences in liking were predominantly driven by sweet taste in 2 out of 3 clusters. The current research has demonstrated that a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products over sugar-reduced products across a wide range of product types (45%) or across selected products (27%), when tasted unbranded, and so there is room for further optimization of commercial reduced sugar products that were evaluated in the current study. Future work should evaluate strategies to facilitate compliance to dietary recommendations on NMES and free sugars, such as the impact of sugar-reduced food exposure on their acceptance

Output from questionnaire relating to NCT04868435 study entitled 'Triggers for post-viral parosmia'

Data from a six-part questionnaire looking at triggers for parosmia (olfactory distortions). The 6 parts comprised questions on 1) demographics, 2) loss of smell, 3) onset of parosmia 4) loss of taste, 5) responses for 14 set trigger foods and 6) other triggers and comments. 954 people started the questionnaire. After removal of trial runs and non-completers, data from the remaining 727 are presented here

Chemical characterisation and determination of sensory attributes of hydrolysates produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of whey proteins following a novel integrative process

The overall aim of this work was to characterize the major angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of whey proteins, through the application of a novel integrative process. This process consisted of the combination of adsorption and microfiltration within a stirred cell unit for the selective immobilization of β-lactoglobulin and casein derived peptides (CDP) from whey. The adsorbed proteins were hydrolyzed in-situ which resulted in the separation of peptide products from the substrate and fractionation of peptides. Two different hydrolysates were produced: (i) from CDP (IC50 =287μg/mL) and (ii) from β-lactoglobulin (IC50=128μg/mL). IC50 is the concentration of inhibitor needed to inhibit ACE by half. The well known antihypertensive peptide IPP and several novel peptides that have structural similarities with reported ACE inhibitory peptides were identified and characterized in both hydrolysates. Furthermore, the hydrolysates were assessed for bitterness. No significant difference was found between the control (milk with no hydrolysate) and hydrolysate samples at different concentrations (at, below and above the IC50)

Effect of sugar reduction on flavour release and sensory perception in an orange juice soft drink model

To examine the effect of sugar reduction on the sensory perception of sweetened beverages, an orange juice soft drink model flavoured with seven characteristic compounds (hexanal, decanal, linalool, ethyl butanoate, α-pinene, β-myrcene and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol) was developed. Five samples were prepared with relevant sugar contents (5.2, 8.2, 9.7, 11.2 and 14.2 °Brix). Using retronasal quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), nine attributes were found to differ significantly (p < 0.05) with sugar content. When the samples were evaluated orthonasally, only the attribute “overripe orange” significantly decreased (p < 0.05) with reduction of sugar content. Headspace solid-phase microextraction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that as sugar concentration decreased, the headspace concentration of six of the volatile compounds decreased, whilst ethyl butanoate remained constant. Principal component analysis revealed that the total release of the flavour compounds was highly correlated with the perceived intensity of the orthonasal attribute “overripe orange”

Thermal and pressure stability of myrosinase enzymes from black mustard (Brassica nigra L. W.D.J Koch. var. nigra), brown mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern. var. juncea) and yellow mustard (Sinapsis alba L. Subsp Maire) seeds

This study investigates the effects of temperature and pressure on inactivation of myrosinase extracted from black, brown and yellow mustard seeds. Brown mustard had higher myrosinase activity (2.75 un/mL) than black (1.50 un/mL) and yellow mustard (0.63 un/mL). The extent of enzyme inactivation increased with pressure (600-800 MPa) and temperature (30-70 °C) for all the mustard seeds. However, at combinations of lower pressures (200-400 MPa) and high temperatures (60-80 °C), there was less inactivation. For example, application of 300 MPa and 70 °C for 10 minutes retained 20%, 80% and 65% activity in yellow, black and brown mustard, respectively, whereas the corresponding activity retentions when applying only heat (70 °C, 10min) were 0%, 59% and 35%. Thus, application of moderate pressures (200-400 MPa) can potentially be used to retain myrosinase activity needed for subsequent glucosinolate hydrolysis

Perception of bitterness, sweetness and liking of different genotypes of lettuce

Lettuce is an important leafy vegetable, consumed across the world, containing bitter sesquiterpenoid lactone (SL) compounds that may negatively affect consumer acceptance and consumption. We assessed liking of samples with differing absolute abundance and different ratios of bitter:sweet compounds by analysing recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from an interspecific lettuce mapping population derived from a cross between a wild (L. serriola acc. UC96US23) and domesticated lettuce, (L. sativa, cv. Salinas). We found that the ratio of bitter:sweet compounds was a key determinant of bitterness perception and liking. We were able to demonstrate that SLs such as 8-deoxylactucin-15-sulphate contribute most strongly to bitterness perception, whilst 15-p-hydroxylphenylacetyllactucin-8-sulphate does not contribute to bitter taste. Glucose was the sugar most highly correlated with sweetness perception. There is a genetic basis to the biochemical composition of lettuce. This information will be useful in lettuce breeding programmes in order to produce leaves with more favourable taste profiles

The effect of consumption volume on profile and liking of oral nutritional supplements of varied sweetness: sequential profiling and boredom tests

Oral nutrition supplements (ONS) are routinely prescribed to those with, or at risk of, malnutrition. Previous research identified poor compliance due to taste and sweetness. This paper investigates taste and hedonic liking of ONS, of varying sweetness and metallic levels, over consumption volume; an important consideration as patients are prescribed large volumes of ONS daily. A sequential descriptive profile was developed to determine the perception of sensory attributes over repeat consumption of ONS. Changes in liking of ONS following repeat consumption were characterised by a boredom test. Certain flavour (metallic taste, soya milk flavour) and mouthfeel (mouthdrying, mouthcoating) attributes built up over increased consumption volume (p 0.002). Hedonic liking data from two cohorts, healthy older volunteers (n = 32, median age 73) and patients (n = 28, median age 85), suggested such build-up was disliked. Efforts made to improve the palatability of ONS must take account of the build up of taste and mouthfeel characteristics over increased consumption volume