Habituation of unconditioned fear can be attenuated by the presence of a safe stimulus: assessment using the neophobic response of the rat

Protection from extinction of conditioned fear has been demonstrated when a conditioned inhibitor of fear is presented during extinction treatment. The present study assessed if similar results could be obtained during the analogous habituation of unconditioned fear. The neophobic response typically elicited by the presentation of a novel flavor was used as a model of unconditioned fear. Consumption by rats was used to ascertain the impact of nonreinforced exposure to a novel flavor either alone, in compound with another novel flavor, or in compound with a safe flavor (i.e., a flavor previously trained as a conditioned inhibitor for illness). The presentation of the novel flavor alone in the absence of illness reduced neophobia. However, exposure to the novel flavor in compound with the safe flavor reduced habituation of neophobia. This effect was not observed when the novel flavor was exposed in compound with another novel flavor. These results suggest that removing safe stimuli from the therapeutical environment might improve the effectiveness of exposure therapy in the treatment of unconditioned fear.     

Episodic-like memory in the rat

A fundamental question in comparative cognition is whether animals remember unique, personal past experiences. It has long been argued that memories for specific events (referred to as episodic memory) are unique to humans. Recently, considerable evidence has accumulated to show that food-storing birds possess critical behavioral elements of episodic memory, referred to as episodic-like memory in acknowledgment of the fact that behavioral criteria do not assess subjective experiences. Here we show that rats have a detailed representation of remembered events and meet behavioral criteria for episodic-like memory. We provided rats with access to locations baited with distinctive (e.g., grape and raspberry) or nondistinctive (regular chow) flavors. Locations with a distinctive flavor replenished after a long but not a short delay, and locations with the nondistinctive flavor never replenished. One distinctive flavor was devalued after encoding its location by prefeeding that flavor (satiation) or by pairing it with lithium chloride (acquired taste aversion), while the other distinctive flavor was not devalued. The rats selectively decreased revisits to the devalued distinctive flavor but not to the nondevalued distinctive flavor. The present studies demonstrate that rats selectively encode the content of episodic-like memories.     

果实风味的代谢基础及其调控机制研究进展

果实风味是重要农艺性状,基因组、代谢组、转录组等多组学联用技术的发展和应用,已相对系统地揭示了风味物质基础。这些物质代谢具有明显的器官、发育以及环境特异性调控的特点,其代谢机制的阐述是果品调控的重要研究热点问题。乙烯是植物生长发育过程中重要的信号分子,对果实风味物质的合成和代谢具有独特的调节作用。在近年来国内外果实风味物质研究的基础上,本文总结了果实风味的代谢基础、调控机制、风味物质对乙烯信号的响应以及生物信息学在果实风味研究中的应用。最后,对该方向未来的发展提出展望,以期为果实风味营养的提高和调控提供理论参考。     

Quantitative Evaluation of Sunstruck Flavor of Beer

Judgement of sunstruck flavor of beer has been relying on the sensory evaluation. However, this sensory test is inaccurate, as well known. Utilizing the experimental result that sunstruck flavor is caught completely with silver nitrate, the authors established a potentiometric method for the determination of sunstruck flavor substance of beer by expressing its intensity in the amount of silver ions combined with it.     

THE POTENTIAL OF CERTAIN FUNGI AS SOURCES FOR NATURAL FLAVOR COMPOUNDS

Bacteria have been used for years as flavor compound sources.However, little attention has been given to fungal sources forsuch compounds. This brief review was not intended to coverall aspects of flavor compound formation from all types of fungiand food systems. However, representative data are presentedto demonstrate that a wide variety of compounds possessing uniqueand potent flavor properties have been isolated as naturallyoccurring constituents of fungi.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A LEXICON FOR BEEF FLAVOR IN INTACT MUSCLE

ABSTRACT

A lexicon describing the flavor characteristics of beef across different cuts, grades, and cooking temperatures and methods was developed. Four major cuts of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) quality grade beef were cooked to five endpoint temperatures using braising, broiling (oven broiling and electric charbroiling), roasting and grilling (indoor and outdoor grilling). Six highly trained panelists identified and defined a total of 38 aroma and flavor characteristics in 176 beef samples. Beef identity, brown/roasted, bloody/serumy, metallic, fat‐like, overall sweet, sour aromatics and five tastes were present in practically all samples. Other attributes were present only in certain samples, depending on either the sample group or the cooking method/endpoint temperature combination used. This lexicon potentially offers the beef industry a standard tool to identify and quantify flavor attributes as impacted by temperature, cooking method, aging process, storage time, diet regime, packaging, USDA quality grades, etc.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Until now, the beef industry's main focus has been to assess beef tenderness and juiciness, with an emphasis on ways to improve beef texture. Meat companies and academic institutions have been using the 1995 American Meat Science Association guidelines to assess the flavor of beef, which are not comprehensive. Recent work has focused on flavor, and the industry needs a standardized flavor lexicon that can be used for many projects. It is important for the industry to be able to systematically identify and quantify flavor attributes that drive consumer acceptance.     

Oxidation of Acetophenone by Aspergillus Species and Their Possible Contribution to Katsuobushi Flavor

Acetophenone was converted to phenol by A. glaucus MA0200. Production of phenol, which has a pungent flavor, seemed to give a contrary effect on the creation of flavor of molded Katsuobushi. Production of phenol is the process of degradation of acetophenone, also with a pungent flavor. It would playa role in the decreasing of the pungent flavor of Katsuobushi.     

红葡萄酒中“马厩味”不良风味物质的检测及其抑制方法的研究进展

葡萄酒是大众喜爱的酒种之一,已在人们的日常消费中占有越来越高的比重。但许多葡萄酒在生产,窖藏及贮运环节,可能会遭受微生物的污染。有些微生物在酒体中会产生不良风味。酒香酵母属酵母菌就是这样一种微生物。它在酒体中所产生的马厩味不良风味物质4-乙基酚或4-乙基愈创木酚对红酒会造成风味上的巨大影响。本文综述了马厩味风味物质产生的机理,以及国外马厩味不良风味物质的检测及抑制方法等,以期对国内红葡萄酒产业相关不良风味物质的检测及其抑制方法的开发有所借鉴。     

VOLATILE FLAVOR COMPOUNDS AFFECTING CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY OF KIWIFRUIT

Sensory research on kiwifruit has shown that specific sugars and acids, and volatile flavor compounds have causative effects on "sweet" and "acid" aroma and flavor attributes. New Zealand consumers (n = 162) assessed the perceived flavor intensity and acceptability of three volatile flavor compounds (ethyl butanoate, E-2-hexenal and hexanal) at varying levels in a model base solution. Increasing levels of ethyl butanoate positively affected all the acceptability attributes ("overall liking,""liking of aroma,""liking of flavor") as well as increased the perceived intensity of "kiwifruit aroma" and "kiwifruit flavor." Increasing levels of E-2-hexenal negatively affected all the acceptability attributes but increased the perceived intensity of "kiwifruit aroma" and "acid flavor." An increase in hexanal increased perceived intensity of "kiwifruit aroma." Ethyl butanoate and E-2-hexenel at the levels tested had the most prominent effects on consumer perceived intensity and acceptability of the "kiwifruit flavor."     

Production of flavor esters catalyzed by CALB-displaying Pichia pastoris whole-cells in a batch reactor

Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) has been employed as an efficient catalyst in the preparation of many flavor esters. A CALB-displaying yeast whole-cell biocatalyst could be an attractive alternative to commercial immobilized CALB because of its low-cost preparation and high enzymatic activity. We investigated the potential application of CALB-displaying Pichia pastoris cells for the production of flavor esters. The optimal conditions for flavor esters synthesis by this biocatalyst were determined in 50-ml shake flasks. Under optimized conditions, the synthesis of 12 kinds flavor esters were scaled up in a 5-l batch stirred reactor. Among these, the mole conversions of 10 exceeded 95% after reactions for 4h. In addition, this biocatalyst showed good tolerance for high substrates concentration and excellent operational stability. Repeated use of the cells in 10 batches resulted in an activity loss of less than 10%. Thus, CALB-displaying P. pastoris whole cells are robust biocatalysts with potential commercial application in the large-scale production of flavor esters in non-aqueous media.     

RELATING SENSORY AND CHEMICAL DATA TO UNDERSTAND FLAVOR

Flavor cannot be measured directly by instruments, it is an interaction of consumer and product. A gas chromatogram, even with 250 peaks on it, does not say anything about the flavor, only about the volatiles. In some cases a character impact compound might be present, in a second group of products a small number of compounds may be responsible for the majority of the flavor, while a third class contains more complex foods, which have generally been processed in some way. A range of methods has been, more or less, successfully used to try to link composition data to flavor data, including the calculation of odor units, fractionation of chromatographic effluent, “nasal appraisal” of chromatographic effluent, and a range of multivariate statistical procedures. However, defects in understanding of the mechanism of operation of the chemical senses has limited the success which has been achieved.     

ADJUSTING ROASTED PEANUT ATTRIBUTE SCORES FOR FRUITY ATTRIBUTE AND NONOPTIMUM CIELAB L* VALUES1

Developing peanut breeding strategies for roasted peanut flavor improvement requires that roasting be to an optimum and effects of negative environmental exposure be to a minimum. In practice it is difficult to achieve these conditions. However, statistical adjustments are possible. To ascertain the proper adjustments, surface response equations were determined relating roast color and fruity attribute scores to roasted peanut attribute score. Fruity attribute had a depressing effect on roasted peanut attribute score. Similarly, underroasting as well as overroasting led to reduced roasted peanut attribute scores. Adjusting for genotype and location had nonsignificant effects on mean optimal roast color or linear equation slope values of the fruity-roasted peanut relationship. With these findings a method for maximization of roasted peanut values was developed using a modified SAS routine. Although the capability to estimate the roasted peanut flavor of a sample with optimal roasting and environmental effects has several potential applications, our specific application is to evaluate parentage contribution to flavor enhancement or flavor reduction.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF CATEGORY AND LINE SCALES TO CHARACTERIZE CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF FRUITY FERMENTED FLAVOR IN PEANUTS

Fruity fermented (FF) flavor is a common off‐flavor in peanuts resulting from high‐temperature curing. The 9‐point hedonic scale is the most widely used scale to determine consumer acceptance; however, research has indicated that line scales may provide equal reliability and greater sensitivity. The objectives of this study were to characterize consumer perception of FF flavor in peanuts and to compare the effectiveness of the two scale types. Consumers (n = 208) evaluated control (no FF), low‐intensity (1.0) FF and high‐intensity (3.0) FF peanut pastes for the strength/intensity of roasted peanut flavor (RPF), sweet taste (ST), fresh peanut flavor (FPF) and overall liking (OV) using randomly assigned ballots. Sensitivity in defining consumer perception of off‐flavor in peanuts was greater with use of line scales than with the hedonic scale. The line scale indicated that FF flavor in peanuts, even at low intensity, negatively impacted OV and further identified significantly lower RPF and FPF perception by consumers. The hedonic scale identified only a difference in FPF and was not sensitive enough to show a difference in OV.     

Direct behavioral evidence for retronasal olfaction in rats

The neuroscience of flavor perception is becoming increasingly important to understand abnormal feeding behaviors and associated chronic diseases such as obesity. Yet, flavor research has mainly depended on human subjects due to the lack of an animal model. A crucial step towards establishing an animal model of flavor research is to determine whether the animal uses the retronasal mode of olfaction, an essential element of flavor perception. We designed a go- no go behavioral task to test the rat's ability to detect and discriminate retronasal odorants. In this paradigm, tasteless aqueous solutions of odorants were licked by water-restricted head-fixed rats from a lick spout. Orthonasal contamination was avoided by employing a combination of a vacuum around the lick-spout and blowing clean air toward the nose. Flow models support the effectiveness of both approaches. The licked odorants were successfully discriminated by rats. Moreover, the tasteless odorant amyl acetate was reliably discriminated against pure distilled water in a concentration-dependent manner. The results from this retronasal odor discrimination task suggest that rats are capable of smelling retronasally. This direct behavioral evidence establishes the rat as a useful animal model for flavor research.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A LEXICON FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF PEANUT FLAVOR

A lexicon of terms to describe desirable as well as undesirable flavors in peanuts has been developed. The lexicon and an intensity rating scale was developed by a 13 member panel of flavor and peanut specialists representing industry and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. This system is intended to provide definitive, common terminology for use in communicating differences in peanut flavor variables among all phases of peanut research and industry.     

Providing information about a flavor to preschoolers: effects on liking and memory for having tasted it

This study sought to determine if providing affectively positive information about a flavor to preschool-aged children during tasting will increase recognition of and liking for the flavor and if the recognition and liking are associated. Forty-six 3- to 6-year-old children tasted 10 flavors: 5 presented with affectively positive information and 5 without. The 10 flavors were then presented again interspersed with 10 distracter flavors. Children reported whether they had tasted the flavor previously and provided hedonic ratings for each flavor. Children's ability to remember having tasted a flavor was greater when the flavor was presented with affectively positive information than without in children throughout the age range of 3-6 years. In children younger than 4.5 years, the provision of information had no effect on hedonic rating, whereas in older children, the provision of information was associated with greater hedonic ratings. We conclude that providing affectively positive information to children about a flavor can increase their ability to recognize the flavor as previously tasted and increases hedonic rating of the flavor in children older than 4.5 years.     

IMPACT OF MICROWAVE BLANCHING ON THE FLAVOR OF ROASTED PEANUTS

Microwave blanching of peanuts was proposed as an attractive alternative to traditional techniques of blanching, because of energy and time savings. However, the occurrence of a processing‐related off‐flavor has been reported. This study examined the effect of processing factors during microwave blanching on the MC and sensory characteristics of the peanuts. The peanuts reached a range of internal temperatures during microwave blanching treatments between 4 and 11 min. A total offnote attribute was introduced to the peanut lexicon and was used successfully to differentiate the effects of microwave treatments. The microwave‐associated off‐flavor was related (but not identical) to cardboardy/stale flavor, and was related inversely to the positive flavor attributes roasted peanutty, sweet aromatic and sweet taste. Peanuts reaching the highest internal temperatures and greatest moisture losses during blanching exhibited the most total offnote flavor; however, temperatures as high as 113C did not produce significantly increased total offnote intensity.