Maximising umami taste in meat using natural ingredients: effects on chemistry, sensory perception and hedonic liking in young and old consumers.

BACKGROUND: Umami taste in foods is elicited predominantly by the presence of glutamic acid and 5'-ribonucleotides, which act synergistically. This study aimed to use natural ingredients to maximise umami taste of a meat formulation and determine effects on liking of older consumers. Cooked meat products with added natural ingredients (yeast extract, mycoscent, shiitake extract, tomato puree, soy sauce and soybean paste) or monosodium glutamate (MSG) were prepared and compared with a control sample analytically (umami compounds), sensorially (sensory profile) and hedonically (liking by younger and older volunteers). Taste detection thresholds of sodium chloride and MSG of volunteers were collected. RESULTS: Four of the seven cooked meat products developed had a significantly higher content of umami-contributing compounds compared with the control. All products, except those containing MSG or tomato puree, were scored (by trained sensory panel) perceptually significantly higher in umami and/or salty taste compared with the control. Consumer tests showed a correlation of liking by the older cohort with perceived saltiness (ρ = 0.76). CONCLUSION: The addition of natural umami-containing ingredients during the cooking of meat can provide enhanced umami and salty taste characteristics. This can lead to increased liking by some consumers, particularly those with raised taste detection thresholds.

Breakfast Intake and Factors Associated with Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet among Lebanese High School Adolescents.

The Mediterranean diet has shown to have positive health impacts on metabolic diseases and cognitive performance. However, Mediterranean countries have witnessed a decreased adherence during the past years and the adoption of a more westernized dietary pattern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of Mediterranean diet adherence with sociodemographic, lifestyle, and anthropometric factors among Lebanese high school adolescents. Specifically, we aimed to analyse in this group the association between low adherence and breakfast intake. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on randomly selected students (268 boys and 332 girls), aged between 15 and 18 years old, from private and public schools in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires and anthropometric measurements. The Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents was used to assess the adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The results showed a high percentage of adolescents having a low adherence (43%), with girls (64.2%) having a significant (p < 0.001) higher adherence than boys (35.8%). Furthermore, the study proved that a lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with a higher risk of obesity (15.5%), breakfast skipping (69.4%), and an unhealthy breakfast options (17.4%). Younger adolescents (47.4%), students from public schools (92.6%), and students with the highest grades (25.3%) had a significantly higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet than those from private schools (7.4%) and older adolescents (18.9%). In conclusion, results should plead for an increased awareness in Lebanese schools, supporting students to be more adherent to the Mediterranean diet, in order to prevent a further increase in metabolic diseases later in adulthood.

Nutri-metabolomics applied to taste perception phenotype: human subjects with high and low sensitivity to taste of fat differ in salivary response to oleic acid.

Saliva has different functions in the mouth and is involved, for example, in taste perception. Saliva composition can also be modified rapidly by taste stimulation. It remains unclear, however, whether the perceived intensity of a tastant may modulate this response. Based on increasing evidence that fat can be perceived by the taste system and that fat taste perception may be associated with fat intake, the aim of this work was to study if stimulation by a fatty acid (oleic acid) modifies saliva composition differently in subjects highly (sensitive+) or weakly (sensitive-) sensitive to that taste. For that purpose, saliva of two groups of subjects was collected after stimulation by either a control emulsion or an emulsion containing 5.61 mM oleic acid. Saliva was analyzed by 2D electrophoresis and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The results show that sensitive+ and sensitive- subjects differ in their salivary response in terms of proteome and metabolome composition. Oppositely to sensitive- subjects, sensitive+ subjects responded to oleic acid by increased abundance of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, rab GDP dissociation inhibitor beta, and organic acids, and decreased abundance of metabolites characteristic of mucins. The results highlight that modification of saliva composition by taste stimulation may be modulated by taste perception.