Aromas

Question 1

What is flavour?

Answer 1

A combination of taste, aroma, and texture.

Question 2

What is a characteristic of something that can be smelt?

Answer 2

Anything with an odor typically is volatile which allows it to diffuse in the air and be smelt.

Question 3

What is the requirement for food to be “tasteable”?

Answer 3

Food needs to be in an aqueous mixture to be received on the tongue by the taste bud. Taste bud has a taste pore and a taste receptor cell.

Question 4

What was the old theory of how taste is sensed?

Answer 4

Different parts of the tongue sense different tastes.

Question 5

What is the difference between taste pores on the tongue at different locations on the tongue?

Answer 5

Structure of taste pores on different parts of the tongue are different but the response to food is the same.

Question 6

Where on the tongue can taste be sensed?

Answer 6

Food is tasted on front sides and back.

Question 7

What are the main compounds that cause a bitter taste?

Answer 7

Bitterness mainly caused by alkaloids, quinine, and heavy metal salts.

Question 8

What do salts taste like?

Answer 8

Salts are salty and sometimes bitter

Question 9

What is the main requirement for something to have a taste?

Answer 9

for something to have a taste it must be soluble

Question 10

What are the interactions like on the tongue that result in tasting of food?

Answer 10

Shallenberger’s saporous unit. It is hypothesized that receptor proteins have slightly positive and slightly negative parts to them that can form temporary bonds with sugars and this triggers a response in the brain.

Question 11

How are scientists trying to make use of what they know about Shallenberger’s saporous unit?

Answer 11

Scientists are trying to find analogues capable of engaging saporous units without entering energy producing pathways.

Question 12

What makes bitterness

Answer 12

Bitterness exhibits similar structural relationships to sugar.

Question 13

What causes a salt to be bitter?

Answer 13

Only a few salts are salty most are bitter; bigger salts than potassium bromide typically exhibit bitterness.

Question 14

How does saltiness affect overall sense of the food?

Answer 14

Salt enhances mouthfeel, sweetness, balance, and saltiness while masking off notes.

Question 15

What affects sourness of food?

Answer 15

Intensity of sourness dependent on H+ ions.

Question 16

How can umami response be increased?

Answer 16

Greater umami response can be made by high amounts of MSG and amino acid breakdown products.

Question 17

Why are we able to incorporate the smell of food with the taste?

Answer 17

Aroma of compounds released by food can be sensed retronasally.

Question 18

What are some factors that can affect sense of smell?

Answer 18

Colds, pregnancy, menstrual cycle, drugs.

Question 19

What are character impact compounds?

Answer 19

Character impact compounds give the majority of the aroma of the food.

Question 20

What smell is benzaldehyde a character impact compound of?

Answer 20

Benzaldehyde gives the smell of cherries and almonds.

Question 21

What are the characteristics of aromas?

Answer 21

Volatile

Present in wide range of concentrations

Depend on human threshold.

Character impact aromas make the distinctive aspect of the scent while other compounds contribute to the overall smell.

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