DailyDirt: Sweeteners By Any Another Other Names May Not Taste As Sweet...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The sense of taste is surprisingly complex. It's related to the sense of smell, but various foods also have combinations of textures and consistencies that make taste tests an interesting (and difficult to fully understand) field of study. There are "perfect Pepsi's" -- not just a single "good" taste that everyone can agree upon. Here are just some other tidbits on tasting.

• Japanese scientists have studied the properties of miraculin -- the glycoprotein from the West African plant Richardella dulcifica that makes sour things taste incredibly sweet (for up to an hour). It works best in an acidic environment to bind your taste receptors, and unfortunately, the FDA considers it a food additive and has not approved its use as an artificial sweetener. [url]
• Some folks are investigating "Pine mouth" syndrome -- the phenomenon where a metallic aftertaste lingers in your mouth for days after eating pine nuts. The effect was first documented in 2001, but more cases are being reported and various food agencies are trying to track down the cause. [url]
• There are over 600 flavor compounds that combine to create the taste of chocolate. However, humans can recognize the aroma of chocolate by only 25 of those volatile flavors. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: chocolate, flavors, miraculin, pine mouth, richardella dulcifica, sour, sweeteners, taste
Companies: fda, pepsi