Individually Modified Saliva Delivery Changes the Perceived Intensity of Saltiness and Sourness

Individuals vary largely in their salivary flow and composition, and given the importance of saliva on perception of taste, this might influence how the tastant stimuli are perceived. We therefore hypothesise that altering the individual salivary flow rates has an impact on the perceived taste intensity. In this study, we investigated the role of saliva amount on the perceived taste intensity by excluding parotid saliva and adding artificial saliva close to the parotid duct at preset flow rates. Significant decreases in perception with increasing salivary flow rates were observed for citric acid and sodium chloride. This can partially be explained by a dilution effect which is in line with previous studies on detectable concentration differences. However, since the bitterness and sweetness remained unaffected by the salivary flow conditions and the dilution effect was comparable to that of saltiness, further explanation is needed. Furthermore, we investigated whether the suppression of taste intensity in binary mixtures (taste–taste interactions) could possibly be caused by the increased salivary flow rate induced by an additional taste attribute. The results show, however, that suppression of taste intensity in binary mixtures was not affected by the rate of salivation. This was more likely to be explained by psychophysics

Association between Grape Yeast Communities and the Vineyard Ecosystems

The grape yeast biota from several wine-producing areas, with distinct soil types and grapevine training systems, was assessed on five islands of Azores Archipelago, and differences in yeast communities composition associated with the geographic origin of the grapes were explored. Fifty-seven grape samples belonging to the Vitis vinifera grapevine cultivars Verdelho dos Acores (Verdelho), Arinto da Terceira (Arinto) and Terrantez do Pico (Terrantez) were collected in two consecutive years and 40 spontaneous fermentations were achieved. A total of 1710 yeast isolates were obtained from freshly crushed grapes and 1200 from final stage of fermentations. Twenty-eight species were identified, Hanseniaspura uvarum, Pichia terricola and Metschnikowia pulcherrima being the three most representative species isolated. Candida carpophila was encountered for the first time as an inhabitant of grape or wine-associated environments. In both sampling years, a higher proportion of H. uvarum in fresh grapes from Verdelho cultivar was observed, in comparison with Arinto cultivar. Qualitatively significant differences were found among yeast communities from several locations on five islands of the Archipelago, particularly in locations with distinctive agro-ecological compositions. Our results are in agreement with the statement that grape-associated microbial biogeography is non-randomly associated with interactions of climate, soil, cultivar, and vine training systems in vineyard ecosystems. Our observations strongly support a possible linkage between grape yeast and wine typicality, reinforcing the statement that different viti-cultural terroirs harbor distinctive yeast biota, in particular in vineyards with very distinctive environmental conditions.Joao Drumonde Neves is the recipient of a fellowship of the Azorean Government (M321/006/F/2008) and PROEMPREGO. This work was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI), and by national funds through FCT by the projects FCOMP-01-0124-008775, PTDC/AGR-ALI/103392/2008 and PTDC/AGR-ALI/121062/2010.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of In-Amphorae Winemaking on the Chemical and Sensory Profile of Chardonnay Wine

The high value of dry extract and volatile acidity could statistically differentiate (P ˂ 0.05) the Chardonnay wine obtained in amphorae with maceration and stored for six months from the wine obtained in barrels and barriques, as evidenced by the analysis of variance. Similarly, the principal component analysis showed that all the amphorae wines sampled between November and March (not the wine analyzed immediately after alcoholic fermentation) were clearly differentiated from the analogue barrel and barrique wines due to the high volatile acidity, straw colour, and tannic perception. The Chardonnay wine produced in amphorae was characterized by a spicy flavour, pleasant tannic and a less ‘green’ character than wines from barrels and barriques, but showed a weak varietal aroma. Thus, the commercial offer of finished wines based on Chardonnay grapes can be potentially extended by including a product processed in amphorae