Dimensions of food-related wellbeing and their relative importance among New Zealand consumers: A quasi-replication and extension approach.

Research into perceived wellbeing (WB) can improve understanding of consumer food choices and support development of strategies to promote healthier and more sustainable eating habits. In this research, using online studies, food-related WB was explored among New Zealand consumers. In a "quasi-replication" of Jaeger, Vidal, Chheang, and Ares (2022), Study 1 uncovered word associations to different WB-related terms ('Sense of wellbeing,' 'Lack of wellbeing,' 'Feeling good,' 'Feeling bad/unhappy,' 'Satisfied with life,' and 'Dissatisfied with life') with 912 participants in a between-subjects design. The results confirmed the multidimensional nature of WB, and the need to consider positive and negative aspects of food-related WB, as well as differences linked to physical, emotional, and spiritual WB. Drawing on Study 1, 13 characteristics of food-related WB were identified, and in Study 2 their importance for feeling a 'Sense of wellbeing' and 'Satisfied with life' was determined with 1206 participants using a between-subjects design. In a further extension, Study 2 also adopted a product-specific perspective and explored the associations of, and importance, for 16 different foods and beverages to food-related WB. Based on Best-Worst Scaling and penalty/lift analysis, the four most important characteristics overall were 'Is good quality,' 'Is healthy,' 'Is fresh,' and 'Is tasty,' with the nuance that healthiness contributed most to feeling a 'Sense of wellbeing' while good quality contributed most to feeling 'Satisfied with life.' The associations to individual foods and beverages underscored that food-related WB is a complex construct arising from an overall evaluation of the different effects of foods (including physical health, social and spiritual aspects of food consumption) and their short-term effects on food-related behaviour. Contextual and individual differences in perceptions of WB in relation to food deserve further investigation.

Consumer conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing: An exploration of wellbeing-related terms in four industrialised countries.

Perceived (or subjective) wellbeing is regarded as key to understanding consumer food choices and the development of strategies to promote desirable eating habits. Yet, in-depth understanding of the specific factors that contribute to people's perceived wellbeing across cultures is lacking. These factors motivated the present research that used word associations to conduct an exploratory analysis of consumer conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing (WB). Adults (n = 4945) living in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore or Germany, and speaking respectively, English or German, took part in the study. Health, pleasure, food quality, positive emotions and social aspects of food consumption were the main associations with food-related wellbeing. Absence hereof was associated with unhealthiness, disgust, negative emotions and poor mental health. The differences in these main associations emphasised the importance of exploring wellbeing, as well as lack hereof. Not doing so leads to an incomplete understanding of this multidimensional construct. The research was conducted with four terms related to wellbeing (each in their positive and negative versions): 'sense of wellbeing' and 'lack of wellbeing', 'feeling good' and 'feeling bad/unhappy', 'satisfied with life' and 'dissatisfied with life' and 'fulfilled in life' and 'unfulfilled in life'. Because these different terms gave rise to different wellbeing associations, researchers in this area must choose their empirical approach with care. The terms 'sense of wellbeing' and 'feeling good' tended to more frequently give rise to health-related associations. Conversely, 'satisfied with life' and 'fulfilled in life' tended to more frequently give rise to positive spiritual and emotional associations of food-related wellbeing. The main conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing were cross-culturally similar, but extension of the present research to other Asian countries was recommended based on several differences between Singaporean participants and those from other countries. In ethnically diverse countries like Singapore, further within-country investigations of different cultures will also have merit.

Sensory-Directed Genetic and Biochemical Characterization of Volatile Terpene Production in Kiwifruit.

Terpene volatiles are found in many important fruit crops, but their relationship to flavor is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate using sensory descriptive and discriminant analysis that 1,8-cineole contributes a key floral/eucalyptus note to the aroma of ripe 'Hort16A' kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis). Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 1,8-cineole production were identified on linkage groups 27 and 29a in a segregating A. chinensis population, with the QTL on LG29a colocating with a complex cluster of putative terpene synthase (TPS)-encoding genes. Transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana and analysis of recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli showed four genes in the cluster (AcTPS1a-AcTPS1d) encoded functional TPS enzymes, which produced predominantly sabinene, 1,8-cineole, geraniol, and springene, respectively. The terpene profile produced by AcTPS1b closely resembled the terpenes detected in red-fleshed A chinensis AcTPS1b expression correlated with 1,8-cineole content in developing/ripening fruit and also showed a positive correlation with 1,8-cineole content in the mapping population, indicating the basis for segregation is an expression QTL. Transient overexpression of AcTPS1b in Actinidia eriantha fruit confirmed this gene produced 1,8-cineole in Actinidia Structure-function analysis showed AcTPS1a and AcTPS1b are natural variants at key TPS catalytic site residues previously shown to change enzyme specificity in vitro. Together, our results indicate that AcTPS1b is a key gene for production of the signature flavor terpene 1,8-cineole in ripe kiwifruit. Using a sensory-directed strategy for compound identification provides a rational approach for applying marker-aided selection to improving flavor in kiwifruit as well as other fruits.

Sensory drivers of perceived situational appropriateness in unbranded foods and beverages: Towards a deeper understanding.

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food and beverage choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) appropriateness, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits them. A persistent misconception surrounding this approach is that it is relevant for discriminating between different products, but not between variants within the same product category, which is often the focus of sensory and consumer studies. To provide a deeper understanding of the sensory underpinnings of appropriateness, the present work presents experimental evidence from six consumer studies (116-210 consumers per study) employing unbranded product variants from the same category. Products were successfully discriminated based on IBU appropriateness in all studies, even when sensory variation was unidimensional and controlled (such as a basic lemonade recipe varying in sugar content). While product differentiation based on the sensory profiles was greater than differentiation based on appropriateness, the results clearly show that sensory variation, in and of itself, is sufficient to elicit differences in perceived appropriateness. As expected, the degree of inter-product differences in appropriateness was approximately linearly related to the degree of differences in sensory profiles. Finally, while some sensory properties independently affected perceived appropriateness, the magnitude (and in some cases the direction) of the effects often depended on the level of product liking.

Importance of food choice motives vary with degree of food neophobia.

Food Neophobia (FN) is a stable trait that measures individuals' propensity to avoid novel/unfamiliar foods. In this research, focus was directed to covariation between FN and food choice factors as measured using two variants of the food choice questionnaire (FCQ). To our knowledge, there are no previous studies which investigates these associations in detail, and in this regard the present research advances understanding of individual differences in FN and FCQ. Existing survey data were used, collected in the USA and Australia with ~1500 and ~750 consumers, respectively. Data from New Zealand came from studies conducted at central location test (CLT) facilities (Ñ400, Ñ1100). There were many consistencies in results across the four studies, and this was noteworthy considering that the data were obtained in 3 different countries across more than 10 years and with participants in CLT and online studies. The FCQ factor Familiarity always gained in importance with increasing FN. The FCQ factor Convenience also always gained in importance with increasing FN, in particular importance of simplicity in preparation and cooking. Conversely, the factors Health and Natural Content decreased in importance, as did factors linked to Environmental and Social Justice concerns. Price and Sensory Appeal remained very important for daily food choices among "neophobic" and "neophilic" consumers alike, and this mirrors past studies from diverse consumer populations. The importance of Mood was low regardless of FN status. Additional research is needed to confirm that these findings generalise to consumers in other countries, and assuming they do, this work contributes to the mounting evidence of the pervasive effects of FN on consumers' food-related experiences and motivations. Determining why FN influences food choice motives is an important next step.

Healthier eating: Covid-19 disruption as a catalyst for positive change.

Healthy and sustainable diets are necessary for global development goals, but people struggle to modify their eating behaviours which are often habitual and resistant to change. However, disruption can provide the impetus for change, and in the present research we view the Covid-19 pandemic as a potential catalytic disruption with the potential to induce positive behaviour change. Data were obtained from ~900 USA adults, of which 44% self-reported to have made positive dietary change/s. Those who did so tended to be younger rather than older and with higher educational attainment. They also were less food neophobic than people who did not make positive change/s and placed greater importance on health as a motive of daily decisions about what to eat and drink. The contribution of psychographic variables in differentiating between groups of people who did / did not make positive changes once again show their importance in uncovering and explaining the complex factors that motivate food-related consumer behaviour. It seems this holds also when daily lives are disrupted by unforeseen events.

Methods for Fitting Olfactory Psychometric Functions: A Case Study Comparing Psychometric Functions for Individuals with a "Sensitive" or "Insensitive" Genotype for ß-Ionone.

In psychophysics, the detection of sensory signals can be depicted by a psychometric function (PF)-a sigmoid function determined by the intercept (i.e., threshold) and the slope (i.e., the rate of increase of detection probability). Fitting psychometric functions is, however, unpopular in chemosensory research, particularly in olfaction. Most olfactory studies adopt ad hoc methods involving a fixed-performance criterion, which result only in a threshold estimate rather than a complete detection profile. This study illustrates the method selection process for fitting olfactory PFs, using a unique odorant-ß-ionone-as an exemplar. This particular odorant has a bimodal threshold distribution across the population, which is known to associate with individuals' genotypes for rs6591536 . The characteristics of ß-ionone enabled us to use a receiver operating characteristic analysis to assess the different odor threshold estimation methods. The results showed that the available methods based on PFs discriminated between individuals of different genotypes with greater accuracy than the ad hoc method. By fitting PFs to the separate genotypic groups, we also made the first observation of the relationship between genotypic variation and the slope parameter of olfactory PFs. The genetically identified ß-ionone "sensitive" group ( s = 1.102-1.883) was shown to have significantly shallower PFs than the ß-ionone "insensitive" group ( s = 0.542-0.724). The slope difference may indicate potential discrepancies in the combinatorial coding scheme of odors between these 2 genotype groups, inviting future research to identify the physiological basis.

Consumer segmentation as a means to investigate emotional associations to meals.

Consumers naturally associate emotions to meal occasions and understanding these can advance knowledge of food-related behaviours and attitudes. The present study used an online survey to investigate the emotional associations that people have with recalled meals: 'memorable' (MM) and 'routine' evening (RM). Heterogeneity in the studied consumer population (UK adults, n = 576 and 571, respectively) was accounted for using a data-driven approach to establish emotion-based segments. Two groups of people were identified with very different emotional response patterns to recalled meals. For 'memorable' and 'routine' meals the majority of people (Cluster 1) held strong positive and weak negative emotional associations. In Cluster 2, positive emotions remained more strongly associated than negative emotions, but much less so. In accordance with findings based on other response variables (e.g., preference, attitudes), psychographic variables accounted better for the heterogeneity found in the emotion associations than socio-demographic variables. Participants' level of meal engagement and difficulty in describing feelings (DDF scale) were the two most important predictors of cluster membership.

Fitting psychometric functions using a fixed-slope parameter: an advanced alternative for estimating odor thresholds with data generated by ASTM E679.

Psychometric functions are predominately used for estimating detection thresholds in vision and audition. However, the requirement of large data quantities for fitting psychometric functions (>30 replications) reduces their suitability in olfactory studies because olfactory response data are often limited (<4 replications) due to the susceptibility of human olfactory receptors to fatigue and adaptation. This article introduces a new method for fitting individual-judge psychometric functions to olfactory data obtained using the current standard protocol-American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E679. The slope parameter of the individual-judge psychometric function is fixed to be the same as that of the group function; the same-shaped symmetrical sigmoid function is fitted only using the intercept. This study evaluated the proposed method by comparing it with 2 available methods. Comparison to conventional psychometric functions (fitted slope and intercept) indicated that the assumption of a fixed slope did not compromise precision of the threshold estimates. No systematic difference was obtained between the proposed method and the ASTM method in terms of group threshold estimates or threshold distributions, but there were changes in the rank, by threshold, of judges in the group. Overall, the fixed-slope psychometric function is recommended for obtaining relatively reliable individual threshold estimates when the quantity of data is limited.

Plant-Based Alternatives Need Not Be Inferior: Findings from a Sensory and Consumer Research Case Study with Cream Cheese.

Reliance on animal foods must be reduced to improve planetary and human well-being. This research studied plant-based cheese alternatives (PBCA) relative to dairy cheese in a consumer taste test with 157 consumers in New Zealand. A case study approach used cream cheese (commercially available) as the focal product category (2 PBCA, 2 dairy) and implemented a multi-response paradigm (hedonic, sensory, emotional, conceptual, situational). "Beyond liking" insights were established, including drivers of liking (sensory, non-sensory) and sensory drivers of non-sensory product associations. Two consumer segments were identified, of which the largest (n = 111) liked PBCA and dairy samples equally (6.5-6.7 of 9). In this PBCA Likers cluster, the key sensory drivers of liking were 'creamy/smooth mouthfeel', 'dissolves quickly in mouth', and 'sweet', while a significant penalty was associated with 'mild/bland flavour'. The non-sensory data contributed additional consumer insights, including the four samples being perceived as differently appropriate for 9 of 12 use situations, with PBCA being regarded as less appropriate. In the limited confines of this case on cream cheese, the findings show that PBCA need not be inferior to their dairy counterparts despite a general narrative to the contrary. Of note, the results were obtained among participants who were open to eating a more PB diet but were not vegetarian or vegan.

Sensory characteristics of plant-based milk alternatives: Product characterisation by consumers and drivers of liking.

Like other plant-based (PB) product categories, PB milk alternatives (PBMA) are in ascendency as part of the green consumer transition and a greater focus on personal health. However, consumption remains far below that for cow's milk, and among multiple barriers to uptake, inferior sensory properties is one problem, nutritional inadequacies another. While exceptions exist in both instances, a general need for improved products remains. The present research is situated in this nexus, and its primary aim was to contribute new consumer-centric insight regarding the sensory drivers of liking/disliking in the PBMA category. This was achieved through a central location study with adult New Zealanders (n = 143, not regular PBMA consumers) who tasted 18 different PBMA samples spanning a broad range of PB ingredients (soy, oat, coconut, almond, rice, cashew, peanut, macadamia, lentil, hemp, sesame) in different product types (single PB source, blends, barista style) with varying nutritional profiles. The most liked sample (6.5/9), which was made from soy, had the nutritional profile that most approximated cow's milk (3 g/100 mL protein), as well as a milky appearance and taste. Its mouthfeel was smooth, and this sensory characteristic was also paramount for barista-style PBMAs being well-liked (>5.9/9) regardless of their constituent PB ingredient (oat, almond, coconut). Opportunities for product innovation within this type of PBMA was identified including for using barista-style beyond hot beverages, as these samples received positive liking scores on average. The same applied to blends as multiple-source PBMAs can facilitate improved nutritional composition, and significant scope seemed to exist to identify more liked vs less liked PB ingredient combinations (e.g., almond/rice vs coconut/sesame). By identifying, through penalty/lift analysis that positive sensory drivers of PBMA liking span all sensory modalities (appearance, taste, flavour, texture and mouthfeel), it becomes easier to appreciate that products in this category are complex and challenging to optimise. A second minor research aim was focused on the modulating influence of PBMA consumption frequency on product liking and the sensory drivers of liking. The key result was a positive association between liking and higher consumption frequency, and greater appreciation of sweet, coconut, nutty and cereal/oaty characteristics of PBMAs.

Analysis of genetically modified red-fleshed apples reveals effects on growth and consumer attributes.

Consumers of whole foods, such as fruits, demand consistent high quality and seek varieties with enhanced health properties, convenience or novel taste. We have raised the polyphenolic content of apple by genetic engineering of the anthocyanin pathway using the apple transcription factor MYB10. These apples have very high concentrations of foliar, flower and fruit anthocyanins, especially in the fruit peel. Independent lines were examined for impacts on tree growth, photosynthesis and fruit characteristics. Fruit were analysed for changes in metabolite and transcript levels. Fruit were also used in taste trials to study the consumer perception of such a novel apple. No negative taste attributes were associated with the elevated anthocyanins. Modification with this one gene provides near isogenic material and allows us to examine the effects on an established cultivar, with a view to enhancing consumer appeal independently of other fruit qualities.

Analysing conjoint data with OLS and PLS regression: a case study with wine.

BACKGROUND: This paper presents a case study with wine where two statistical methods for the analysis of rating-based conjoint analysis data were applied. Traditionally, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to estimate the relative importance of the experimental factors and the part-worth utilities of factor levels. Partial least squares (PLS) regression, which is a popular tool in sensory and consumer science, can also be used for the analysis of interval-level conjoint data. RESULTS: Using conjoint analysis, purchase intentions for Californian red and white wine were obtained from a convenience sample of young US adults (n ≈ 250). OLS and PLS regression uncovered the same systematic patterns in the data: negative utility associated with more expensive wine, and positive utility associated with famous wine regions. While OLS regression provided more accessible top-line results, an advantage of PLS regression was the graphical format of results. This provided easy insight to individual differences in the importance attached to the factors driving purchase intention. CONCLUSION: OLS and PLS regression can complement each other in the analysis of interval-level conjoint data. Dual analysis can help to ensure that the right insights are drawn from the study and communicated to internal/external clients. It may also facilitate communication within project teams.

An exploration of what freshness in fruit means to consumers.

Perceived freshness is a key determinant of consumers' food choices but remains an imprecisely defined concept. A comprehensive and consumer-centric definition of freshness appears to be lacking, and the present research was situated in this knowledge gap, seeking, in particular, to explore the complexity of freshness in consumers' minds. People from the USA (n = 2092) took part in an online survey and completed a text highlighting task. Herein, participants read a text that described different aspects of freshness and the technologies used to prolong freshness during storage. While reading, they used highlighting functions within the software to indicate text content that they liked/disliked or agreed/disagreed with. The combined results from text highlighting and responses to the open-ended question "Considering the fruit you eat, why is freshness important to you?" confirmed that freshness is a complex construct with multiple dimensions and suggested that the complexity of freshness extends from food in general to specific product categories (in the case of fruit and apples). Further, the findings showed that freshness is desired by consumers because fruit are perceived as healthier and better tasting. The findings revealed negative attitudes towards stored fruit among participants, but also indicated some acceptance of the fact that some storage was unavoidable. Results provide useful insights to the development for communication strategies to increase consumer acceptance of stored apples and fruits in general.

High arousal as the source of food rejection in food neophobia.

Food neophobia (FN) at moderate to high levels is very common among adult populations in all cultures and is usually defined in terms of rejection of unfamiliar foods. However, food rejection in FN is only partly related to food familiarity. Experimental and survey studies have suggested that unpleasantly high arousal may be induced by food novelty, but also be produced by foods with intense or complex flavours, that are perceived as dangerous or foreign, or that have unusual ingredients. Liking for foods with these characteristics have recently been shown to be strongly negatively associated with FN. Thus, induced high arousal may underlie food rejection in FN. Here, we collected familiarity, liking and arousal ratings, and scores on the standard Food Neophobia Scale from more than 7000 consumers in four countries - Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia - for a series of food names that were manipulated to produce standard and 'high arousal' (variant) versions of the same foods. Consistent across all four countries, arousal ratings increased, and liking decreased, with decreases in food familiarity. Variant food names were always associated with ratings of higher arousal than the standard names. The variant foods were generally less familiar than the standard foods, although this was not a necessary condition for their higher arousal ratings, suggesting that the other arousal-inducing factors (e.g., flavour intensity) also played a role. Across all foods, arousal ratings increased, and liking ratings decreased, as FN increased, but these effects were accentuated for the variant foods. The consistency of these effects across multiple countries supports a view that arousal is universally a strong determinant of liking for foods and that this underlies the rejection of foods, familiar and novel, in FN.

Emoji meanings (pleasure-arousal-dominance dimensions) in consumer research: Between-country and interpersonal differences.

In line with the increasing popularity of emoji, the need for methodological research into these pictorial representations of emotion remains. The present research contributes to this goal by continuing to establish the meaning of emoji and exploring these according to between-country and interpersonal differences. The emoji (n = 12) were selected to span the valence × arousal emotion space, and the PAD model (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) was used to establish emoji meaning for the three dimensions, operationalized as measurement on 6 × 3 semantic differentials. Participants in the main study came from three countries-Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia (n = 2465), and a supplementary study included the United Kingdom and New Zealand (n = 600) (subset of four emoji). The results confirmed that emoji meanings according to the PAD model were largely similar between countries (albeit not identical). There were multiple minor significant differences for individual emoji, and where these existed, they often related to the dimension of Arousal, prompting a need for further investigation. Interpersonal differences were examined for gender (men and women), age group (18-45 and 46-69 years old), and frequency of emoji use. Again, significant differences were smaller rather than larger and supported the notion that emoji are generally applicable for multicountry research. However, caution regarding the participants who use emoji infrequently may be warranted. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The findings from this research will help academics and practitioners who are interested in using emoji for sensory and consumer research (or are already doing so) with more robust interpretations of their findings. For a set of 12 emoji that provide broad coverage of the valence × arousal emotional space, meanings are provided on the three dimensions of the PAD model. The data is collected in five countries and contributes to increased confidence that emoji meanings are by and large similar in these countries.

Consumer perception of plant-based yoghurt: Sensory drivers of liking and emotional, holistic and conceptual associations.

Plant-based (PB) yoghurts is a rapidly expanding food category with the potential to reduce many of the negative environmental impacts associated with the farming of dairy cattle and related greenhouse gas emissions. Within the context of growing consumer demand for PB products, this research aimed to identify the main drivers of consumer acceptance of PB yoghurts through data drawn from a consumer study of 113 adult New Zealand participants who tasted a representative range of commercially available vanilla-flavoured PB yoghurts, and provided sample evaluations using a multi-variable measurement approach comprised of liking ratings, emotional responses, sensory characterisations, and holistic / conceptual perceptions. The primary finding of this study was that the overall acceptability of currently available PB yoghurts is low, leading to poor attitudes and low willingness to consume PB yoghurts. The examined products were characterised by the presence of several sensory attributes that negatively impacted consumer liking, either because they were unexpected or because their intensity level was too high. Among the main sensory issues identified were perceived sourness (acidity), lumpy appearance and non-white colour. In contrast, vanilla flavour and a creamy/smooth texture were identified as the main drivers of liking. The multi-response approach used in this study enabled a comprehensive characterisation of the products. One of the key insights gained was that negative emotional activation, caused by the presence of unexpected sensory attributes in the samples, was the main driver of product rejection. This was likely due to the disparity between consumers' sensory expectations, formed primarily based on their experience with dairy yoghurts, and the actual experience upon tasting the PB yoghurts. Overall, the findings indicate that the sensory properties of currently available PB yoghurts are a significant barrier to their adoption by most consumers and that addressing these sensory deficiencies is essential to achieving mainstream market acceptance of these products.

A critical review of social media research in sensory-consumer science.

The collection and analysis of digital data from social media is a rapidly growing methodology in sensory-consumer science, with a wide range of applications for research studying consumer attitudes, preferences, and sensory responses to food. The aim of this review article was to critically evaluate the potential of social media research in sensory-consumer science with a focus on advantages and disadvantages. This review began with an exploration into different sources of social media data and the process by which data from social media is collected, cleaned, and analyzed through natural language processing for sensory-consumer research. It then investigated in detail the differences between social media-based and conventional methodologies, in terms of context, sources of bias, the size of data sets, measurement differences, and ethics. Findings showed participant biases are more difficult to control using social media approaches, and precision is inferior to conventional methods. However, findings also showed social media methodologies may have other advantages including an increased ability to investigate trends over time and easier access to cross-cultural or global insights. Greater research in this space will identify when social media can best function as an alternative to conventional methods, and/or provide valuable complementary information.

Genetic variation in the odorant receptor OR2J3 is associated with the ability to detect the "grassy" smelling odor, cis-3-hexen-1-ol.

The ability to detect many odors varies among individuals; however, the contribution of genotype to this variation has been assessed for relatively few compounds. We have identified a genetic basis for the ability to detect the flavor compound cis-3-hexen-1-ol. This compound is typically described as "green grassy" or the smell of "cut grass," with variation in the ability to detect it linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a region on human chromosome 6 containing 25 odorant receptor genes. We have sequenced the coding regions of all 25 receptors across an ethnically mixed population of 52 individuals and identified 147 sequence variants. We tested these for association with cis-3-hexen-1-ol detection thresholds and found 3 strongly associated SNPs, including one found in a functional odorant receptor (rs28757581 in OR2J3). In vitro assays of 13 odorant receptors from the region identified 3 receptors that could respond to cis-3-hexen-1-ol, including OR2J3. This gene contained 5 predicted haplotypes across the 52 individuals. We tested all 5 haplotypes in vitro and several amino acid substitutions on their own, such as rs28757581 (T113A). Two amino acid substitutions, T113A and R226Q, impaired the ability of OR2J3 to respond to cis-3-hexen-1-ol, and together these two substitutions effectively abolished the response to the compound. The haplotype of OR2J3 containing both T113A and R226Q explains 26.4% of the variation in cis-3-hexen-1-ol detection in our study cohort. Further research is required to examine whether OR2J3 haplotypes explain variation in perceived flavor experience and the consumption of foods containing cis-3-hexen-1-ol.

Consumer Preference Segments for Plant-Based Foods: The Role of Product Category.

A survey of willingness to consume (WTC) 5 types of plant-based (PB) food was conducted in USA, Australia, Singapore and India (n = 2494). In addition to WTC, emotional, conceptual and situational use characterizations were obtained. Results showed a number of distinct clusters of consumers with different patterns of WTC for PB foods within different food categories. A large group of consumers did not discriminate among PB foods across the various food categories. Six smaller, but distinct clusters of consumers had specific patterns of WTC across the examined food categories. In general, PB Milk and, to a much lesser extent, PB Cheese had highest WTC ratings. PB Fish had the lowest WTC, and two PB meat products had intermediate WTC. Emotional, conceptual and situational use characterizations exerted significant lifts/penalties on WTC. No penalty or lifts were imparted on WTC by the situational use of 'moving my diet in a sustainable direction', whereas uses related to 'when I want something I like' and 'when I want something healthy' generally imparted WTC lifts across clusters and food categories. The importance of this research for the study of PB foods is its demonstration that consumers are not monolithic in their willingness to consume these foods and that WTC is often a function of the food category of the PB food.