Biasioli, F.

Ercolini, D.

Gasperi, F.

Giacalone, D.

Khomenko, I.

Menghi, L.

Valentino, V.

English

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Fondazione Edmund Mach

P1.142	 Food	neophobia	is	associated	with	scarce	olfactory	performances	andspecific	signatures	on	oral	microbiotaLeonardo	Menghi1,2,3,	Iuliia	Khomenko3,	Vincenzo	Valentino4,	Franco	Biasioli3,	Danilo	Ercolini4,5,	DavideGiacalone2,	Flavia	Gasperi1,31University	of	Trento	Center	Agriculture	Food	Environment,	Trento,	Italy.	2University	of	Southern	Denmark,Department	of	Technology	and	Innovation,	Odense,	Denmark.	3Edmund	Mach	Foundation	Research	andInnovation	Centre,	San	Michele	All	Adige,	Italy.	4University	of	Naples	Federico	II	Department	of	AgriculturalSciences,	Naples,	Italy.	5University	of	Naples	Federico	II	Task	Force	on	Microbiome	Studies,	Naples,	ItalyAbstractFood	Neophobia	(FN),	i.e.,	the	unwillingness	to	try	novel	foods,	reportedly	affects	dietary	variety	and	can	leadto	erroneous	eating	habits	across	the	lifespan.	While	a	complex	paradigm	reporting	arousal	to	mediate	the	oro-sensory	responses	of	neophobics	towards	foods	has	been	proposed,	the	consequences	of	this	link	on	botholfaction	and	host-related	non-genetic	factors,	such	as	the	oral	microbiota,	are	little	investigated.	Against	thisbackdrop,	this	contribution	aimed	at	assessing	the	associations	between	FN	and	olfactory	functioning,retronasal	aroma	release,	and	oral	microbiota.Eighty-three	subjects	(57.8	%	female,	aged	22-68	yo)	completed	the	Food	Neophobia	Scale	and	the	traitanxiety	subscale	of	the	State-Trait	Anxiety	Inventory	before	being	tested	for	olfactory	functioning	through	theSniffin’	Sticks	Test	battery	(i.e.,	odor	threshold,	discrimination,	identification).	Each	subject	was	then	asked	toconsume	a	strawberry	jelly	candy	while	being	monitored,	through	an	ergonomic	nosepiece,	for	the	retronasalrelease	of	7	strawberry	aroma	compounds	(nose-space	analysis	with	Selected-Ion	Flow-Tube	MassSpectrometry).	Prior	to	starting	the	sensory	tasks,	participants	provided	an	unstimulated	saliva	sample	lateranalyzed	by	16S	rRNA	gene	profiling.We	identified	35	Low-Neophobics	(LN),	29	Medium-Neophobics	(MN)	and	19	High-Neophobics	(HN).	Overall,higher	FN	traits	showed	marginally	higher	anxiety	traits,	lower	olfactory	thresholds	(i.e.,	higher	odorsensitivity),	and	lower	discrimination	abilities.	LN	and	MN	showed	a	higher	aroma	release	compared	to	HN,probably	due	to	longer	oral	processing.	Interestingly,	the	oral	microbiota	of	HN	harbored	a	higher	abundanceof	several	dysbiosis-related	microbes,	such	as	the	cariogenic	pathogen	Scardovia	wiggsiae.	Taken	collectively,	this	study	suggests	a	pervasive	role	of	arousal	in	mediating	the	sensory	responses	ofneophobics	towards	foods,	which	would	promote	a	cascade	system	leading	to	unhealthy	dietary	habitsnegatively	shaping	the	oral	microbiota.	Possible	links	between	oral	microbiota	and	olfactory	performances	willbe	also	discussed.KeywordsFood	neophobiaArousalOlfactory	performancesOral	microbiota

Food neophobia is associated with scarce olfactory performances and specific signatures on oral microbiota

https://openpub.fmach.it/bitstream/10449/77682/3/2022%20Menghi%20P1.142.pdf

Food neophobia is associated with scarce olfactory performances and specific signatures on oral microbiota

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