This thesis investigates whether fats, akin to other taste stimuli, exhibit sensory properties such as mixture interactions. In order to determine gustatory, rather than tactile or olfactory effects, viscosity-controlled emulsions of deodorised oils were used as the base to which taste stimuli were incorporated and presented to a panel of trained assessors. In preliminary qualitative assessments, panellists described the 10% olive oil emulsion as saltier, stronger, fattier and having a more lingering aftertaste than the non-oil control, suggesting that oil modulates taste duration as well influencing taste intensity and/or perceived quality. Panellists were unable to rate the oil/fat taste per se with any degree of certainty hence further experiments examined the effect of oil on the perception of taste mixtures. In mixture interaction experiments, the addition of oil did not result in mixture suppression or enhancement for sweet, salty, sour or bitter while it significantly enhanced umami. To determine the locus of interaction, when MSG and oil were presented to each side of the tongue separately, the enhancement effect disappeared indicating a peripheral mechanism of interaction, similar to the attenuation of chilli burn by oil. In contrast, suprathreshold sucrose sweetness was enhanced by the contralateral presentation of oil, indicating sensory processing at a higher locus. Furthermore, the addition of oil significantly reduced bitterness in a caffeine-MSG mixture. Since earlier experiments did not indicate any interaction between oil and bitterness, the decrease in the perceived bitterness of this binary mixture is attributed to an increase in umami which is likely to have suppressed bitterness, the perceptually dominant component in this mixture. These findings suggest a gustatory role for fats in modulating the taste profile of mixtures, in particular, enhancing total taste intensity, prolonging taste duration, and enhancing umami. A taste receptor-based model of fat perception provides for an orosensory mechanism capable of signalling the arrival of the most energy-dense nutrient, essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins. The chemosensory signal may also be the basis for hedonic responses with subsequent implications for intake.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/215584 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Song, Hae-Jin, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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