Flavor and Fragrance Perceptions

Flavor and Fragrance
Perceptions
Marcia Levin Pelchat, Ph.D. Monell Chemical Senses Center May 12, 2015 Flavor: An Integrative Experience
Flavor: a combination
of inputs
•  Taste - gustation
•  Smell - olfaction
•  Mouth-feel trigeminal
Taste Mouth-­‐
Feel Smell •  And more
Flavor 2 Flavor: It’s All In Your Head
•  Combination of
sensory inputs
•  All (or most) are in
your head
•  Main point: Need a
brain to experience
flavor
Emphasis on “your” because we each have unique sensory worlds 3 About Monell
•  Non-profit research institution founded 1968
•  Mission: To conduct basic research in the
mechanisms and functions of taste and smell
4 Monell’s Staff
•  25 Principal Investigators
•  60 PhD-level scientists with expertise in:
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Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Genetics/genomics
Sensory evaluation
Chemistry
Neuroscience
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Physiology
Psychology
Animal models
Ecology
Development
Food science
5 Monell Research Support
•  US Federal government:
–  NIH, NSF, USDA, USDI, DOD, ONR, US Army
•  Pennsylvania government
•  Foundations
–  The Monell Foundation
•  Corporate Sponsors
•  Individual Philanthropy
6 Corporate Sponsorship
Anheuse-Busch InBev
AFB International Inc.
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
Altria Group
Asahi Group Holdings Lmtd.
Campbell Soup Company
The Coca-Cola Company
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Coty Inc.
Diageo, plc
Diana Ingredients
Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Firmenich Incorporated
General Mills
Givaudan SA
Glaxo Smith Kline
Heng Yuan Xiang China (Group) Co., Ltd.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.
Japan Tobacco Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Kao Corporation
Kellogg Company
Kerry Ingredients and Flavours
Keurig Green Mountain Inc.
Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd.
Kraft Foods
L’Oreal
Mars
McCormick & Company, Inc.
Mead Johnson Nutritionals
Mondelēz International
Ogawa & Co. Ltd.
PepsiCo, Inc.
Procter & Gamble
Reckitt Benckiser, plc
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
The Sugar Association, Inc.
Suntory Holdings Ltd.
Symrise
Tate & Lyle
Takasago International Corporation
Unilever Research & Development
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
…and Produce MarkeBng AssociaBon 7 Chemical Sense: Taste
•  Oral taste receptors
–  Sweet, sour, salty,
bitter, umami,
others?
•  Function: nutrient
evaluation
•  Extra-oral “taste
receptors”
–  Gut, pancreas, lungs,
airways, testis, brain,
others?
8 The Tongue Map is Incorrect
9 Taste Biology: A Quick Overview
Bigiani et al., 2003
10 Peripheral and Central Taste Pathways
J. Brand
11 Demo: Taste-taste Interactions
•  Tastes have to be
considered
in context
•  Interaction with
other tastes
–  e.g. salt/bitter
•  Try radicchio/salt
Salt Suppresses BiGer Taste 12 Chemical Sense: Smell
•  ~400 functional
receptor types in
the nose
•  Directly linked to
emotional centers
in the brain
•  Substantial
individual
differences
13 Combinatorial Odor Coding
skatole
(putrid)
EPITHELIUM:
Receptor
Cells
BULB:
Glomerular Layer
Receptor
activation
skatole image
R1
R2
R3
A recent study suggests we can disJnguish among a trillion different aromas 14 Demo: Jelly Beans
Flavors:
•  banana
•  coffee
•  licorice
Instructions:
1.  Close your eyes
2.  Mix up jelly beans
3.  Pinch nostrils
4.  Begin to chew one
5.  Try to guess flavor
6.  Open nostrils
7.  Guess flavor again
Which was easier?
15 Olfaction
Orthonasal
olfactory
bulb
olfactory
receptors
Retronasal
odor
perception
olfactory
bulb
olfactory
receptors
odor
perception
Patrick J.
Lynch
'out-there'
Patrick J.
Lynch
'in-the-mouth'
The nose and the mouth are connected 16 “I love the taste of chocolate.”
•  Duality of olfaction:
lack of awareness of
olfactory component
of flavor (Rozin,
1982)
•  Complaints from
cold sufferers &
clinic patients
17 Aroma Is Important
•  Few taste qualities,
yet thousands of
different flavors.
•  Odor: arguably the
most informative
component of flavor
–  Wintergreen vs.
spearmint
–  Mango vs. peach
–  Beef vs. lamb
–  Basmati rice vs. plain
rice
18 Odors Can Trick You
Odors can be used to change taste:
Through “associative learning,” the brain reacts
to familiar food odors as if the taste is there
Red Oval: Taste Cortex
Activated by food odors (as compared to non-taste odors)
Blue Box: Orbitofrontal Cortex
Activated by familiar taste-smell combinations but not usually by tastes or smells
alone
Obesity
Volume 18, Issue 8, pages 1566-1571, 6 SEP 2012 DOI: 10.1038/oby.2010.57
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2010.57/full#f2
19 Sweetness: Perceived vs. Actual
Assorted Tomato VarieBes •  Sweeter tomatoes
liked more
Perceived Sweetness •  Matina tomato liked
more than Yellow
Jelly Bean tomato
•  May be due to
“sweet aromatics”
Bartoshuk & Klee, 2013
Sugar Content Odor Contributes SubstanJally to Flavor 20 Chemical Sense: Chemical Feel
Chemesthesis:
Desirable irritation
produced by carbonation
and spices not detected
by the gustatory or
olfactory system but by
skin senses.
Cooling Warmth Itch SJnging Burning Tingling 21 Hijacking Temperature Sense
°C
Dhaka et al., 2006
22 Individual Differences Photo credit: ramio1983.wordpress.com
23 Demo: Taste Insensitivity
•  Common taste insensitivity for
phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and propylthiouracil
(PROP), and other compounds containing the
-N-C=S moiety
•  Worldwide frequency of non-tasters is
approximately 25%
Phenylthiocarbamide
(PTC)
Propylthiouracil
(PROP)
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Mean intensity of bitterness (n=3) + SE
Glucosinolate-Containing Vegetables
18
16
14
PAV/PAV
(n=14)
SensiJve (Taster) AVI/AVI
(n=11) (Non-­‐Taster) InsensiJve 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Sandill and Breslin (2006)
25 Specific anosmia
•  Profound insensitivity to a particular odorant in a
person with an otherwise normal sense of smell
•  On average, 2 individuals will have functional
differences in 30% of olfactory receptors
(Mainland et al., 2014)
26 Beta-Ionone Demo
The combination of α-ionone and β-ionone is
characteristic of the scent of violets.
β-­‐ionone: flavoring in foods and beverages and also in fragrances. A single amino acid change in the gene for one type of odor receptor results in the inability to smell β-­‐ionone. 27 "During the asparagus season members are requested
not to relieve themselves in the hat stand.”
•  After eating
asparagus, urine
develops the aroma
of cooked cabbage or
vegetable soup
•  Odorant is a
sulphur compound
28 But……
Some people do NOT report smelly pee after
eating asparagus
Why????
• Don’t make the smell?
• Make it, but don’t notice it??
29 Asparagus genes!
Most people have a gene that makes
them more sensitive to asparagus pee
smell.
30 Genetics: Conclusions
•  Genes can influence
taste and smell
sensitivity.
•  As a result, we all
live in different
sensory worlds.
•  Genetic differences
interact with culture
and individual
experience.
•  No simple relationship
between sensitivity
and preference.
31 In Summary….
•  Decisions about purchase and
consumption are strongly
influenced by flavor.
•  Genetics and experience shape
sensory qualities a consumer
perceives and prefers.
•  Better understanding of the
sensory underpinning of flavor
leads to improved ability to
create and market appealing
foods.
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