Nov 14, 2008

Science - Mouth bacteria give some wines,food a flavor boost (G.Read)

Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Certain wines, fruits and vegetables pack a delayed but powerful flavor punch thanks to the bacteria living in our mouths, food chemists have demonstrated.

The late Emile Peynaud, considered the father of modern winemaking, remarked that the Sauvignon blanc grape had only a weak taste when one bit into it, but that 20 to 30 seconds later, "you suddenly experience a powerful aromatic rush at the back of the mouth as the Sauvignon fragrance returns." Dr. Christian Starkenmann of Firmenich, a fragrance and flavor developer in Geneva, and his colleagues decided to investigate the mechanism behind this "retroaromatic" effect.

In order to smell something, Starkenmann noted in an interview with Reuters Health, a volatile substance must come in contact with the olfactory tissue lining the nasal cavity. Other researchers had previously shown that retroaromatic foods contain odorless sulfur compounds called cysteine-S-conjugates, and that volatile sulfur compounds released from these precursors called thiols gave such foods their scent.

To better understand how the odorless precursors were transformed into their smelly offspring, Starkenmann and his team had 30 trained panelists sample the sulfur thiol and corresponding cysteine-S-conjugate precursor for grapes, onions, and bell peppers. The panelists spit out each sample after five seconds and then reported their perceptions.

While the panelists perceived the scent of the thiols immediately, it took them 20 to 30 seconds to smell the cysteine-S-conjugate precursors. And while the odor of the thiols lasted for only a few seconds, the smell of the precursors persisted for up to three minutes.

To test which components of saliva might be responsible for releasing the thiols from their parent compounds, the researchers incubated the precursors with saliva that contained normal bacteria and with sterile saliva. Within 24 hours of being in the normal saliva, 80 percent of the compound had been broken down. But in the sterile saliva, the breakdown was much slower; after four days, less than 15 percent of the compound had disappeared.

This suggests, Starkenmann and his colleagues state, that mouth bacteria are responsible for releasing thiols from their precursor compounds contained in retroaromatic food and drink. Free thiols' shorter taste duration appears to occur because they are quickly absorbed by saliva, they add.

The findings should be useful in helping to develop food products with more complex, longer-lasting tastes, Starkenmann told Reuters Health. In a separate line of research, he noted, he and his colleagues have found that a similar process is at work in producing bad breath and underarm odor.

SOURCE: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, November 12, 2008.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

mouth bacteria give some wines food a flavor boost its a good topics and i liked the matter.i am also searching for this topics in detail i want to give my seminar on this field if you want to help please help me.
newa_90@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

[url=http://isabellemarrant.webnode.fr/isabel-marant-sneakers/]isabelle marant bijoux[/url]
[url=http://isabellemarrant.webs.com/]ventes priv茅es isabel marant[/url]
[url=http://isabelmarant1.skynetblogs.be/archive/2012/05/08/isabel-marant-chaussures-en-ligne.html]bijoux isabel marant[/url]
http://isabellemarrant.blogsky.com/1391/02/19/post-2/
http://isabellemarrant.blogsky.com/1391/10/04/post-3/
http://isabellemarant.yolasite.com/bottes-isabel-marant.php

Anonymous said...

[url=http://isabellemarrant.yolasite.com/]isabel marant bijoux[/url]|[url=]maje[/url]|[url=]isabelle marant sac[/url]

http://isabellemarant.hpage.co.in/isabel_marant_sneakers_70074134.html
http://isabellemarrant.yolasite.com/
http://isabelmarant01.webnode.fr

Anonymous said...

xT2B2o http://isabelmarantss.1minutesite.es/ jF1I2w [url=http://isabelmarantss.1minutesite.es/]isabel marant shop online[/url] aN2Q6l isabel marant sneakers yD7F6g
nM0L5m http://dphonesbeatsbydre.com tD5I2l [url=http://dphonesbeatsbydre.com]beats dr dre[/url] cD1J0l cheap beats by dre bH2R9t
nA0L5u http://sneakershopes.webnode.es nW7D3n [url=http://sneakershopes.webnode.es]isabel marant[/url] oT0D2p isabel marant yJ0R2b
zJ9S7f http://headphoneshop.webs.com iP2U1f [url=http://headphoneshop.webs.com]monster beats by dre[/url] uS8K1n dr dre headphones eO4Z4b
tR8Q6u http://onlinesneakers.webnode.fr vM6X9i [url=http://onlinesneakers.webnode.fr ]isabel marant[/url] eK3M2r isabel marant qV7U9x
vB2Q2e http://www.longchamppascherer.com bN3Z1o [url=http://www.longchamppascherer.com]longchamp soldes[/url] tD9X0c sac longchamp bF8V4c

Anonymous said...

eZ3M4q isabel marant uD5S0v
aF9X6v isabel marant sneakers gA6N3y
hP6N6x longchamp sac tE5X7x
dF6Z2j michael kors outlet eZ5G6w
jB3G7n isabelle marant jM4R4o
uK0D2s sac pliage longchamp dQ1D0n

Anonymous said...

Yq5Tl3
[url=http://isabelmarantshop.hazblog.com]isabel marant summer 2012[/url]
[url=http://www.ussneakershop.350.com/Isabel_Marant_haut-garde_des_collections.htm]jogging isabel marant[/url]
[url=http://isabelmarants.wallinside.com/]sacoche longchamp homme[/url]

Mm2Cq6Pm4Ds7
http://buyusneaker.webnode.com/isabel-marant-en-el-precio-barato/
http://ussneakershop.tumblr.com/-sac-longchamps
http://isabelmarantsneakerskoim.devhub.com

Anonymous said...

nK4O1x http://isabelsneakeres.webnode.es iC9H4v [url=http://isabelsneakeres.webnode.es]isabel marant shop online [/url] cQ0D1i isabel marant sneakers yT7F5k
iA9J3x http://isabelmarantsale3.webnode.fr wE6M0x [url=http://saleisabelmarant.webnode.fr]isabel marant[/url] mQ7G6z isabel marant
yH8S6w http://acheter4.webnode.fr nC9Z3k [url=http://acheter4.webnode.fr]isabel marant[/url] aM5L4y isabel marant wW3N5i
nO1W3c http://sneakersonlinees.webnode.es vZ6R8l [url=http://sneakersonlinees.webnode.es]isabel marant[/url] iN2H0q isabel marant sneakers uA3P3h
sR7B9t http://isabellemarantsales.webnode.fr [url=http://isabellemarantsales.webnode.fr]sneakers isabel marant[/url] cQ9R4q isabelle marant qR0R2z