Salivary flow and turbidity development inconsistently associated with lower taste intensity of vegetables and juices.

The same phytochemicals that stimulate aversive sensations are often also responsible for purported health benefits in fruits and vegetables. Prior work indicates that some salivary proteins may reduce aversiveness of phytochemicals. In rodents, the salivary binding proteins have been shown to reduce bitter taste of polyphenols and alkaloids, but work in humans has focused primarily on polyphenol astringency (dry, rough, or puckery sensations). In this study, we tested if tastes of vegetable products might correlate to either salivary flow rate or the polyphenol binding capability of saliva, as measured by turbidity development when saliva is mixed with tannic acid. Participants (N=26) provided chewing-stimulated saliva samples and rated five juices and two chopped vegetables for bitterness, sourness, and sweetness intensity. Saliva was mixed with tannic acid and light absorbance was measured for quantification of haze development. Greater absorbance corresponded to less bitterness for one green vegetable juice blend, less sweetness for two green vegetable juices and chopped kale, and less sourness from cranberry juice. Greater salivary flow corresponded to less bitterness from chopped brussels sprouts, and less sweetness from one green vegetable juice blend and chopped kale. These findings indicate that greater salivary flow rate and presence of certain salivary binding proteins is not universally associated with lower aversive tastes from phytochemical-containing foods. Whether associations between these salivary properties are ingredient specific or simply not robustly related to taste in commercial products should be further investigated.

Repeated exposure to epigallocatechin gallate solution or water alters bitterness intensity and salivary protein profile.

Polyphenols, bitter and astringent compounds present in many healthy foods, induce varied sensory responses across individuals. These differences in liking and flavor intensity may be attributable, in part, to differences in saliva. In the current study, we tested the effect of repeated consumption of a bitter polyphenol (epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG) solution on perceived bitterness intensity and salivary protein composition. We hypothesized exposure to EGCG would cause an increase in concentrations of salivary proteins that inhibit bitterness of polyphenols. We also hypothesized that participants with higher habitual polyphenol, specifically the flavanols, intake would experience less bitterness from EGCG solutions than those with low habitual intake, and that the high flavanol consumers would be more resistant to salivary alterations. We also tested whether bovine milk casein, a food analog for salivary proteins that may suppress bitterness, would decrease bitterness intensity of the EGCG solution and mitigate effects of the intervention. Participants (N = 37) in our crossover intervention adhered to two-week periods of daily bitter (EGCG) or control (water) solution consumption. Bitterness intensity ratings and citric acid-stimulated saliva were collected at baseline and after each exposure period. Results indicate that bitterness intensity of the EGCG solution decreased after polyphenol (bitter EGCG) exposure compared to control (water) exposure. Casein addition also decreased bitterness intensity of the EGCG solution. While there was not a significant overall main effect of baseline flavanol intake on solution bitterness, there was an interaction between intervention week and baseline flavanol intake. Surprisingly, the higher flavanol intake group rated EGCG solutions as more bitter than the low and medium intake groups. Of proteins relevant to taste perception, several cystatins changed in saliva in response to the intervention. Interestingly, most of these protein alterations occurred more robustly after the control (water) exposure rather than the bitter (EGCG) exposure, suggesting that additional factors not quantified in this work may influence salivary proteins. Thus, we confirm in this study that exposure to bitterness suppresses ratings of bitterness over time, but more work needs to establish the causal factors of how diet influences salivary proteins.

Quality and Consumer Acceptance of Berry Fruit Pomace-Fortified Specialty Mustard.

Blueberry pomace (BP) and cranberry pomace (CP) are good sources of dietary fiber and phenolics. This study aimed to develop berry fruit pomace (FP)-fortified specialty mustard with elevated bioactive compounds and ascertain consumer acceptance of a new product. Wet BP and CP were ground and incorporated into Dijon-style mustard at concentrations of 15%, 20%, and 25% (w/w). Total dietary fiber (TDF), total phenolic content (TPC), and radical scavenging activity (RSA) were evaluated for samples obtained from both chemical extraction (CE) and simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SGD). Physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance were also examined. Increasing concentrations of BP or CP significantly increased TDF of mustards from both CE (AOAC methods) and SGD, with the highest values from 25% fortifications. TDF from AOAC ranged from 26.86% to 40.16% for BP and from 26.86% to 38.42% for CP, while TDF from SGD ranged from 31.02% to 42.68% for BP and 31.02% to 63.65% for CP. From CE, no significant variation of TPC was found, but RSA significantly increased with increasing concentration of BP and CP. TPC from SGD was higher than that from CE, where TPC decreased with increasing concentration of BP or CP. RSA from SGD was lower than that from CE. Sensory scores of pomace-fortified samples were significantly lower than the control; however, informed panelists scored BP-fortified mustard significantly higher on appearance and color liking than uninformed panelists. This study demonstrated that with proper marketing, the utilization of FP in condiments is a viable option for potential health benefits. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This research is applicable to multiple areas of the food industry. Juice manufacturers or other companies that process raw agricultural produce can use this research as another way to repurpose biowaste, and companies making specialty condiments can use this research to inform future product development. General considerations discussed regarding the use of berry fruit pomace can be applied by any company interested in pomace reuse.

Comorbidity and the treatment of principal anxiety disorders in a naturalistic sample.

This study examined the impact of comorbidity on treatment outcome and the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and depressive disorders on comorbid disorders in a naturalistic sample of 150 patients presenting to an anxiety disorders clinic. The following results were observed across principal (i.e., most severe) diagnoses. Patients with comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders presented for treatment with higher severity of their principal disorder than patients without comorbidity. However, the presence of comorbidity did not predict dropout or poor treatment response, and patients demonstrated significant improvement in their principal disorders regardless of comorbidity. The frequency of clinically severe and subclinical (i.e., not severe enough to meet diagnostic criteria) comorbid conditions decreased significantly over the course of treatment. The implication of these findings for the classification and treatment of emotional disorders is discussed.

Effects of nonlinguistic auditory variations on lexical processing in Broca's aphasics.

In a series of experiments, the effect of white noise distortion and talker variation on lexical access in normal and Broca's aphasic participants was examined using an auditory lexical decision paradigm. Masking the prime stimulus in white noise resulted in reduced semantic priming for both groups, indicating that lexical access is degraded by nonlinguistic white noise distortion. However, talker variation within a prime-target pair had no effect upon the performance of either the normal or aphasic individuals. The absence of a talker variation effect suggests that voice-specific information is not encoded in the lexical representations of words. The normal performance of Broca's aphasics under conditions of both white noise and talker variation supports the view that these patients have a lexical processing impairment rather than a more generalized language deficit characterized by limited computational resources.

The worried mind: autonomic and prefrontal activation during worrying.

To study the psychophysiological correlates of worrying, the authors recorded heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), skin conductance level, and alpha electroencephalographic asymmetry in healthy males during baseline, relaxation, worry induction, and anticipation of an impromptu speech task. Compared with baseline, relaxation, and anticipation, worrying was associated with greater heart rate and lower RSA. Worrying was further characterized by higher skin conductance levels compared with baseline but lower levels than during anticipation. Finally, worrying was associated with relatively greater left frontal activity compared with anticipation. Trait public speaking anxiety was positively correlated with left frontal activity during worrying. These results support the notion that worrying is a unique emotional state that is different from fearful anticipation.