ABSTRACT
Because of the global mega trend in modern food applications to improve the healthiness of our diet, certain new taste and ‹avor challenges have been reported. Two main categories of processed food products show severe taste or ‹avor de cits: “food minus” and “food plus” products. “Food minus” products can be categorized as foods reduced in sugar, salt, fat, or monosodium glutamate (MSG), whereas “food plus” products include all foods enriched with healthy but unpleasant tasting ingredients such as high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids or oils, certain polyphenols from tea or grape skin or seed, and certain vitamins found in the B group, to name a few. In addition to these taste-related de cits, off-‹avors can occur in food or processed foods. Frequently, the presence of off-‹avors is a sign of food spoilage but they can, however, also be intrinsically present in healthier raw materials,
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 155 8.2 De nition of Flavor Modi ers ...................................................................... 156 8.3 Methods of Detecting Flavor Modi cation .................................................. 157
8.3.1 Sensory Methods .............................................................................. 157 8.3.2 Cell Biological Methods ................................................................... 158 8.3.3 Biological Routes to Arti cial Noses and Tongues .......................... 159 8.3.4 Animal Models ................................................................................. 160
8.4 Aroma/Aroma Interactions ........................................................................... 160 8.5 Trigeminal/Aroma Interactions .................................................................... 161 8.6 Aroma/Taste Interactions ............................................................................. 162 8.7 Taste/Taste Interactions ................................................................................ 162 8.8 Taste/Trigeminal Interactions ....................................................................... 164 8.9 Flavorless Flavor Modi ers .......................................................................... 164
8.9.1 Bitter Taste ........................................................................................ 164 8.9.2 Sweet Taste ....................................................................................... 166 8.9.3 Umami/Salty/Sour Taste ................................................................... 167
8.10 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 169 References .............................................................................................................. 169
which is unappreciated by consumers. For example, soy proteins often show beany, green, or cardboard ‹avor pro les, and do not t with the intended pro le for dairy products in western markets. Another example is the replacement of butterfat in ice creams with healthier plant-based oils. These oils often have a green, herbal character, which needs masking to gain consumer acceptance. Other highly problematic consumables are pharmaceutical actives that are often adverse in taste (e.g., bitter, astringent, metallic) and some oral care products that can contain large amounts of unpleasant tasting detergents or antimicrobials.
