Gustation

Question

This piglix contains articles or sub-piglix about Gustation

Answer 1

Bliss point (food)

In the formulation of food products, the bliss point is the amount of an ingredient such as salt, sugar, or fat which optimizes palatability. Pioneering work on the bliss point was carried out by American market researcher and psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz, known for his successful work in product creation and optimization for foods ranging from spaghetti sauce to soft drinks. Moskowitz describes the bliss point as "that sensory profile where you like food the most.

The bliss point for salt, sugar, or fat is a range within which perception is that there is neither too much nor too little, but the "just right" amount of saltiness, sweetness, or richness. The human body has evolved to favor foods delivering these tastes: the brain responds with a "reward" in the form of a jolt of endorphins, remembers what we did to get that reward, and makes us want to do it again, an effect run by the neurotransmitter, dopamine. Combinations of sugar, fat, and salt act synergistically, and are more rewarding than any one alone. In food product optimization, the goal is to include two or three of these nutrients at their bliss point.

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Answer 2

Blind wine tasting

Blinded wine tasting is wine tasting undertaken in circumstances in which the tasters are kept unaware of the wines' identities. The blind approach is routine for wine professionals (wine tasters, sommeliers and others) who wish to ensure impartiality in the judgment of the quality of wine during wine competitions or in the evaluation of a sommelier for professional certification. More recently wine scientists (physiologists, psychologists, food chemists and others) have used blinded tastings to explore the objective parameters of the human olfactory system as they apply to the ability of wine drinkers (both wine professionals and ordinary consumers) to identify and characterize the extraordinary variety of compounds that contribute to a wine’s aroma. Similarly, economists specializing in the wine market have utilized the technique in their research. Some blinded trials among wine consumers have indicated that people can find nothing in a wine's aroma or taste to distinguish between ordinary and pricey brands. Some academics, based on blinded wine tastings, have also cast doubt on the ability of professional tasters to judge wines consistently.

Blind tasting, at a minimum, involves denying taster(s) the ability to see the wine label or wine bottle shape. Informal tastings may simply conceal the bottles in a plain paper bag. More exacting competitions or evaluations utilize more stringent procedures, including safeguards against cheating. For example, the wine may be tasted from a black wine glass to mask the color.

A taster's judgment can be prejudiced by knowing details of a wine, such as geographic origin, price, reputation, color, or other considerations.

Scientific research has long demonstrated the power of suggestion in perception as well as the strong effects of expectancies. For example, people expect more expensive wine to have more desirable characteristics than less expensive wine. When given wine that they are falsely told is expensive they virtually always report it as tasting better than the very same wine when they are told that it is inexpensive. French researcher Frédéric Brochet "submitted a mid-range Bordeaux in two different bottles, one labeled as a cheap table wine, the other bearing a grand cru etiquette." Tasters described the supposed grand cru as "woody, complex, and round" and the supposed cheap wine as "short, light, and faulty."

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Answer 3

Coffee cupping

Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. It is a professional practice but can be done informally by anyone or by professionals known as "Q Graders". A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue. The coffee taster attempts to measure aspects of the coffee's taste, specifically the body (the texture or mouthfeel, such as oiliness), sweetness, acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), flavour (the characters in the cup), and aftertaste. Since coffee beans embody telltale flavours from the region where they were grown, cuppers may attempt to identify the coffee's origin.

Various descriptions are used to note coffee aroma.

Cupping is a traditional practice; in the United States, cupping became a standard industry practice in the late 19th century (in what is retrospectively called the First Wave of American coffee), due to its use by Hills Brothers Coffee of San Francisco.

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Answer 4

Conditioned taste aversion

Conditioned taste aversion occurs when an animal associates the taste of a certain food with symptoms caused by a toxic, spoiled, or poisonous substance. Generally, taste aversion is developed after ingestion of food that causes nausea, sickness, or vomiting. The ability to develop a taste aversion is considered an adaptive trait or survival mechanism that trains the body to avoid poisonous substances (e.g., poisonous berries) before they can cause harm. The association reduces the probability of consuming the same substance (or something that tastes similar) in the future, thus avoiding further poisoning. It is an example of classical conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning.

Studies on conditioned taste aversion which involved irradiating rats were conducted in the 1950s by Dr. John Garcia, leading to it sometimes being called the Garcia effect.

Conditioned taste aversion sometimes occurs when sickness was merely coincidental and not related to the substance that caused the sickness. For example, a person who becomes very sick after consuming vodka-and-orange-juice cocktails may then become averse to the taste of orange juice, even though the sickness was caused by the over-consumption of alcohol. Under these circumstances, conditioned taste aversion is sometimes known as the "Sauce-Bearnaise Syndrome", a term coined by Seligman and Hager.

While studying the effects of radiation on various behaviors in the mid to late 1950s, Dr. John Garcia noticed that rats developed an aversion to substances consumed prior to being irradiated. To examine this, Garcia put together a study in which three groups of rats were given sweetened water followed by either no radiation, mild radiation, or strong radiation. When rats were subsequently given a choice between sweetened water and regular tap water, rats who had been exposed to radiation drank much less sweetened water than those who had not. Specifically, the total consumption of sweetened water for the no-radiation, mild radiation and strong radiation rats was 80%, 40% and 10%, respectively.

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Answer 5

Crispiness

Crispiness or crispness is the gustatory sensation of brittleness in the mouth, such that the food item shatters immediately upon mastication. Crispiness differs from crunchiness in that a crunchy food continues to provide its material sensation after a few chews. On the other hand, a crispy food quickly loses the 'taut' equilibrium of its material, such as a tightly wrapped sausage.

A delicately wrapped item is usually crisp, unlike such food items as loosely or unwrapped unfresh fruit or a wax-coated cheese.

It is possible for a food to be crispy, crunchy, or both.

There are a number of techniques to achieve crispiness when cooking. Frying food can make it crispy, such seen in French fries. A breading coating using flour, egg wash, and bread crumbs will provide a layer of crispiness. Baking and roasting impart crispiness, as well, as noted in the skin of Peking duck or pernil.

Crispiness is lost when food items are heated in the microwave oven as microwaves heat water within the food that then makes the food margins soggy.

Crispness and crisp are also used for other meanings besides crispiness and crispy. Thus a quick and sharp answer may be termed a "crisp answer". The term crispness is also used to indicate freshness. Thereby a "crisp salad" is a fresh salad, - no limpness in it. A wine may be described as "crisp" indicating in this context that it is refreshing and has some acidity. Cold and dry air may be termed "crisp" (but not crispy).

The slang term crispyness denotes an attitude of being up for new things or adventures.

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Answer 6

Crunchiness

Crunchiness is the sensation of muffled grinding of a foodstuff. Crunchiness differs from crispness in that a crisp item is quickly atomized, while a crunchy one offers sustained, granular resistance to jaw action. While crispness is difficult to maintain, crunchiness is difficult to overcome.

Crunchy foods are associated with freshness.

Crispness and crunchiness can each be "assessed on the basis of sound alone, on the basis of oral-tactile clues alone, or on the basis of a combination of auditory and oral-tactile information". An acoustic frequency of 1.9 kHz seems to mark the threshold between the two sensations, with crunchiness at frequencies below, and crispness at frequencies above.

Crunchy food breaks at a speed of 300 meters per second, which is the speed of sound. The sound of crunching food is therefore "a tiny sonic boom".

Crunchy foods include:

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Answer 7

Degustation

Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various foods, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishes in one sitting. Usually consisting of eight or more courses, it may be accompanied by a matching wine degustation which complements each dish.

The French term dégustation is still "commonly" used in English-language contexts, even though a standard Anglicised spelling and pronunciation exist. Modern dégustation probably comes from the French kitchens of the early 20th century and is different from earlier meals with many courses because these meals were served as full-sized meals at each course.

Sampling a selection of cheeses, at home or in a restaurant, may also be called a dégustation. Three to four varieties are normally chosen, generally including a semi-soft cheese, a goat's cheese, and a blue cheese. The stronger varieties are normally tasted last.

A six course dégustation may include two seafood, red meat and dessert items with matching wines while the same menu could have added a vegetarian item, and any other types of dish to expand the menu to (for example) a nine-course dégustation menu.

The popular Spanish style of tapas is similar to the dégustation style, but is not in itself a complete set menu offering the chefs' signature dishes, but instead offers a variety from which the diner can choose.

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Answer 8

Dysgeusia

Dysgeusia (/dɪsˈɡuːʒə/ or /dɪsˈɡjuːziə/) or parageusia is a distortion of the sense of taste. Dysgeusia is also often associated with ageusia, which is the complete lack of taste, and hypogeusia, which is a decrease in taste sensitivity. An alteration in taste or smell may be a secondary process in various disease states, or it may be the primary symptom. The distortion in the sense of taste is the only symptom, and diagnosis is usually complicated since the sense of taste is tied together with other sensory systems. Common causes of dysgeusia include chemotherapy, asthma treatment with albuterol, and zinc deficiency. Different drugs could also be responsible for altering taste and resulting in dysgeusia. Due to the variety of causes of dysgeusia, there are many possible treatments that are effective in alleviating or terminating the symptoms of dysgeusia. These include artificial saliva, pilocarpine, zinc supplementation, alterations in drug therapy, and alpha lipoic acid.

The sense of taste is based on the detection of chemicals by specialized taste cells in the mouth. The mouth, throat, larynx, and esophagus all have taste buds, which are replaced every ten days. Each taste bud contains receptor cells. Afferent nerves make contact with the receptor cells at the base of the taste bud. A single taste bud is innervated by several afferent nerves, while a single efferent fiber innervates several taste buds.Fungiform papillae are present on the anterior portion of the tongue while circumvallate papillae and foliate papillae are found on the posterior portion of the tongue. The salivary glands are responsible for keeping the taste buds moist with saliva.

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Answer 9

Monell Chemical Senses Center

The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute located at the University City Science Center research campus in Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Monell conducts and publishes interdisciplinary basic research on taste, smell, and chemesthesis (chemically mediated skin senses, such as the burn of capsaicin or the tingle of carbonation).

Founded in 1968, the center's mission is to advance knowledge of the mechanisms and functions of the chemical senses to benefit human health and well-being. Knowledge gained from Monell’s basic research provides insight and solutions for issues related to public health, national health policy, and quality of life, including studies of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, pediatric health, occupational safety, environmental interactions, and homeland security.

Monell has a scientific staff of more than 50 Ph.D.-level scientists. Situated in the academic heart of Philadelphia’s University City Science Center, the center occupies two buildings with a total of 80,000 square feet (7,400 m²). The institute is operated as a non-profit organization and receives funding from government grants, primarily from the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, as well as from foundations and unrestricted corporate sponsorships.

Robert Margolskee was appointed in 2014 as the center's third Director. Dwight Riskey is Board Chair. Many eminent scientists, academicians and business executives have served the center as board members and members of advisory committees.

Coordinates: 39°57′21″N 75°11′35″W / 39.9558°N 75.1931°W / 39.9558; -75.1931

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Answer 10

Electrogustometry

Electrogustometry is the measurement of taste threshold by passing controlled anodal current through the tongue. When current passes through the tongue a unique and distinct metallic taste is perceived.

Electrogustometry has been in existence since the 1950s. However, not much research has been done in this field.

TR Bull developed an electrogustometer, but it lacked precision and was not widely accepted. In the 1990s the Rion (TR-06) was developed. This was precise and is widely used in the market. The TR-06 is probably the only electrogustometer used now for research and diagnosis. This is manual and needs a trained doctor or nurse to use it. It needs to be manually calculated to arrive at the taste threshold and carry out the false positive tests.

Small, light and portable, this hand-held, battery-powered device can be easily placed in any environment. It has an inbuilt false positive detect test. This is developed to cater for the psychophysical analysis of the subject.

Electrogustometric taste threshold depends on pulse duration pulse and area of contact of electrode and tongue. Detailed experiments will be performed to prove and discuss their influence on taste threshold with the automatic electrogustometer. Experiments have been performed with the manual TR-06 on to study the effects of these control factors.

The measure of the minimum amount of current required to excite the sensation of this taste is called the 'taste threshold'. This project involves the design and fabrication of an automatic instrument to measure this taste threshold.

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