The Deletion of GPR40/FFAR1 Signaling Damages Maternal Care and Emotional Function in Female Mice.

The free fatty acid receptor 1 (GPR40/FFAR1) is activated by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as docosahexaenoic acids (DHA). This receptor has been the focus of many studies regarding physiological functions of the central nervous system. PUFAs are essential for neuronal development and maintenance of neuronal function; thus, the decrease of PUFAs in the brain is closely related to the induction of psychiatric diseases associated with emotional disorder, such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. However, details of the mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated changes of maternal and/or emotional behavior caused by a deficiency of GPR40/FFAR1 signaling. GPR40/FFAR1 deficient (FFAR1-/-) female mice exhibited impaired maternal care such as retrieving behaviors and an increased rate of neglect and infanticide when compared to wild type (WT) female mice. Furthermore, FFAR1-/- female mice showed increased time spent in the open arms in an elevated plus maze test, reduction of locomotor activity and social interaction behavior, and decreased sucrose intake, when compared to WT female mice. In conclusion, these findings suggest that PUFAs-GPR40/FFAR1 signaling might function, at least in part, as a regulatory factor of emotional and maternal behavior in mice.

Sensory preferences among general Japanese consumers and physicochemical evaluation of deep-fried peanuts.

BACKGROUND: The development of food that satisfies consumer preferences is very important for producing commodities. In the present study, 132 Japanese consumers carried out sensory evaluation of deep-fried peanuts with varying frying times (2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 15 min) at 150 °C, and the relationships among sensory elements and physicochemical properties were investigated. RESULT: The sensory scores for colour, bitterness, and deep-fried peanut aroma increased (darker or stronger) with frying time, whereas the sweetness score was relatively high (strong) for frying times of 2, 4, 6 and 9 min, and then decreased (weaker) with increasing frying time. Frying times of 4, 6 and 9 min scored higher in overall liking than other times. Multiple-regression analysis indicated that the overall liking score was positively correlated with sweetness (standardised regression coefficient, ß = +0.51) and deep-fried peanut aroma (ß = +0.26) scores but negatively correlated with bitterness score (ß = -0.25). Multiple-regression analysis also indicated a difference in sensory preference by gender. Sensory elements were closely related to the physicochemical properties, including the colour indexes (CIELAB colour space) and the sucrose and water contents. When L(*) (CIELAB colour space, lightness index) was 53-64 and water content was 10-30 g kg(-1), the mean overall liking score was relatively high implying acceptable fried peanut quality. CONCLUSION: Relationships among individual sensory elements were confirmed. Multiple-regression analysis indicated a strong positive correlation between sweetness and overall liking and a small difference in sensory preference by gender. Sensory evaluations can thus be expressed by physicochemical properties.

Instrumental evaluation and influence of gender and/or age among consumers on textural preference of deep-fried peanuts.

The present study was conducted to evaluate instrumental properties, to perform micro-structural analysis, and to research textural preference among Japanese general consumers (n=330) using raw and deep-fried peanuts with varying frying periods (2, 4, 6, 9, 12, and 15min) at 150°C. The relationship between consumer preference and the influence of gender and/or age among consumers regarding textural preference were evaluated. With increased frying time, the force at failure (FF) decreased from 26N to 18N, and the distance at failure (DF) decreased from 2.4mm to 1.0mm indicating increasing brittleness. A cross-sectional micro-structural image indicated increasing heterogeneity during frying. The mean preference score for 4min-, 6min-, 9min-, 12min-, and 15min-fried peanuts (3.0 to 3.4) exceeded that for 2min-fried peanuts (2.5 to 2.6), indicating that consumers liked easily broken peanuts. The tendency was more remarkable for middle-aged and elderly subjects (30years old and older) than for young subjects (15 to 29years old). Thus, textural perception may play a more important role in textural preference for older individuals than for young individuals. The Mann-Whitney's U test indicated no difference in textural preference between genders.