I remember the last conversations my former colleague José and I had one year ago. At that time, we were working in a small art gallery owned and controlled by a private company. We were placed in different positions, but both of us felt trapped and enslaved by the system. José went to India many times to learn wisdom from the wise religious thinkers. After returning, he quit smoking and became a vegetarian. He now lives at the border between two small European countries.
MULTIFILE
Understanding taste is key for optimizing the palatability of seaweeds and other non-animal-based foods rich in protein. The lingual papillae in the mouth hold taste buds with taste receptors for the five gustatory taste qualities. Each taste bud contains three distinct cell types, of which Type II cells carry various G protein-coupled receptors that can detect sweet, bitter, or umami tastants, while type III cells detect sour, and likely salty stimuli. Upon ligand binding, receptor-linked intracellular heterotrimeric G proteins initiate a cascade of downstream events which activate the afferent nerve fibers for taste perception in the brain. The taste of amino acids depends on the hydrophobicity, size, charge, isoelectric point, chirality of the alpha carbon, and the functional groups on their side chains. The principal umami ingredient monosodium l-glutamate, broadly known as MSG, loses umami taste upon acetylation, esterification, or methylation, but is able to form flat configurations that bind well to the umami taste receptor. Ribonucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate and inosine monophosphate strongly enhance umami taste when l-glutamate is present. Ribonucleotides bind to the outer section of the venus flytrap domain of the receptor dimer and stabilize the closed conformation. Concentrations of glutamate, aspartate, arginate, and other compounds in food products may enhance saltiness and overall flavor. Umami ingredients may help to reduce the consumption of salts and fats in the general population and increase food consumption in the elderly.
MULTIFILE
It has been shown that the identification of many foods including vegetables based on flavour cues is often difficult. The effect of providing texture cues in addition to flavour cues on the identification of foods and the effect of providing taste cues only on the identification of foods have not been studied. The aim of this study was to assess the role of smell, taste, flavour and texture cues in the identification of ten vegetables commonly consumed in The Netherlands (broccoli, cauliflower, French bean, leek, bell pepper, carrot, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, onion and tomato). Subjects (n ¼ 194) were randomly assigned to one smell (orthonasal), flavour (taste and smell) and flavour-texture (taste, smell and texture). Blindfolded subjects were asked to identify the vegetable from a list of 24 vegetables. Identification was the highest in the flavour-texture condition (87.5%). Identification was significantly lower in the flavour condition (62.8%). Identification was the lowest when only taste cues (38.3%) or only smell cues (39.4%) were provided. For four raw vegetables (carrot, cucumber, onion and tomato) providing texture cues in addition to flavour cues did not significantly change identification suggesting that flavour cues were sufficient to identify these vegetables. Identification frequency increased for all vegetables when perceived intensity of the smell, taste or flavour cue increased. We conclude that providing flavour cues (taste and smell) increases identification compared to only taste or only smell cues, combined flavour and texture cues are needed for the identification of many vegetables commonly consumed in The Netherlands.
