Taste

In projects developed in the area of food history and in the different symposia organised by ICREFH in the past 30 years, the history of the senses has remained in the background. However, the senses of smell, touch, sight, hearing, and taste are appealed to when we deal with the production of foods for consumption. The use of the senses, which is quotidian, but equally ephemeral, seems to be outside of the written scholarship produced by historians. The creation, by elites, of taste, of fashion, of " bon gout " , are familiar areas of discussion today. This symposium, which will be presented for the 30th anniversary of ICREFH, proposes moving forward in our analysis of this area by drawing on recent research. Each sense can be a separate topic of historical research. However, separating each sense activated by food presents a somewhat impoverished image. In fact, all the senses are at work when we are eating. Thus, let us take them as a whole so as to seize a " balance of the senses " (Corbin), a rapport among them which can appear in the form of a hierarchy or of a balance. This ensemble is produced, it grows, it transforms, and then it sometimes disappears. Actually, the enhancement of taste indicates a constructed and deliberate hierarchical organization. In the same way, a crunch activates our sense of hearing initially, with the other senses staying in the background. All of this remains to be explored in order to evaluate and historicise the place accorded to the senses vis-à-vis food by 19th and 20th century society. We shall approach the history of food and the senses by means of an event, a product, a particular source (a family journal, a cookery book...), prohibitions, speeches… On the basis of already familiar archives or by utilising lesser known sources is it possible to generate new avenues of research or to reinterpret previous research? Three main themes have been adopted, but the organizing committee is open to other proposals: 1 – An analysis of the hierarchy of the senses in the 19th and 20th centuries, and their transformations: these can be produced in various ways: • By vocabulary: In this time period how was specific vocabulary constructed (e.g., for wine), how were words for food and the senses created? Some words disappear or change their meaning. • Can we observe geographical food distinctions that arose from the senses? Did the combination of the senses and food play a part in the creation of nations or of nationalism (national dishes and the senses that are particularly connected to them). Can we distinguish between the senses developed at home, and those developed outside of the home? Do there exist places of intensity for the senses (the kitchen, for example)? Seasons? • Is the appeal of the senses a function of social group, stages in life, type, body type (fat or thin, small or large, healthy?). The analogy between body odours or social position and certain dishes and their odours should perhaps be explored: foot odour/ cheese; poverty/cabbage smell; wealth/gameyness. • The industrialization of the senses: a new hierarchy? 2 – Production and construction of norms Are there rules, and how are they applied when it is a question of combining colours, forms, tastes, and odours? We can envisage the roles of regulations, European or national, of specific trades (doctors, cooks…), hygiene and the senses, the media: the press, radio, books, religion…

Grape brandy is a spirit drink produced by wine distillation and is matured in wooden casks. According to legislation, it can be characterised by the geographical area where the grapes were produced, the grape variety used and the selected distillation and ageing techniques. Distillation increases ethanol concentration and aromatic constituents which are already present in grapes or are developed during fermentation and distillation. During maturation in wooden casks, compounds that contribute to the aroma and taste are extracted from the wood. Hence the spirit acquires the desired softer mouth feel, aromatic complexity and overall quality. Different methods of analysis are used in order to pursuit this process by analysing volatile and non-volatile substances and correlate composition with quality. Analysis can also be useful in identification of brandy safety, potential adulterations, provenance and differentiation from other spirits drinks.

Leptin receptors are present in taste buds and previous research indicates that leptin administration modified electrophysiological and behavioral responses to sweet taste. It is now known that sweet taste is temperature dependent. We examined the influence of (1) stimulus temperature on chorda tympani (CT) nerve responses to sucrose, saccharin and NH(4)Cl; and (2) leptin administration on CT nerve responses to sucrose, saccharin and other basic taste stimuli at 35°C that maximized sweet-taste sensitivity in C57BL/6 mice. We found that the CT nerve responded with greater magnitude to sucrose and saccharin as stimulus temperature increased from 23 to 35°C and then declined at higher temperatures. In contrast, the CT nerve responses to NH(4)Cl increased in magnitude as temperature increased from 23 to 44°C. We also showed that leptin selectively increased the CT nerve responses to sucrose at 35°C in both fasted and free-fed mice. The responses of mice treated with the saline vehicle did not change. Our findings are consistent with the notion that leptin binds with its receptors in fungiform taste buds and alters the message conveyed by sugar-responsive neurons to the brain.

Vertebrate taste buds undergo continual cell turnover. To understand how the gustatory progenitor cells in the stratified lingual epithelium migrate and differentiate into different types of mature taste cells, we sought to identify genes that were selectively expressed in taste cells at different maturation stages. Here we report the expression of the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ1 in mammalian taste buds of mouse, rat, and human. Immunohistochemistry and nuclear staining showed that nearly all rodent and human taste cells express this channel. Double immunostaining with antibodies against type II and III taste cell markers validated the presence of KCNQ1 in these two types of cells. Co-localization studies with cytokeratin 14 indicated that KCNQ1 is also expressed in type IV basal precursor cells. Null mutation of the kcnq1 gene in mouse, however, did not alter the gross structure of taste buds or the expression of taste signaling molecules. Behavioral assays showed that the mutant mice display reduced preference to some umami substances, but not to any other taste compounds tested. Gustatory nerve recordings, however, were unable to detect any significant change in the integrated nerve responses of the mutant mice to umami stimuli. These results suggest that although it is expressed in nearly all taste bud cells, the function of KCNQ1 is not required for gross taste bud development or peripheral taste transduction pathways, and the reduced preference of kcnq1-null mice in the behavioral assays may be attributable to the deficiency in the central nervous system or other organs.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential influence of carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin (CM-beta-CyD) on the aqueous solubility, chemical stability and oral bioavailability of famotidine (FMT) as well as on its bitter taste. We examined the effect of the CM-beta-CyD on the acidic degradation of FMT compared with that for sulfobutyl-ether-beta-cyclodextrin (SBE-beta-CyD). The potential use of CM-beta-CyD for orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. A taste perception study was also carried out. A strong stabilizing influence of CM-beta-CyD was observed against the acidic degradation, in sharp contrast to SBE-beta-CyD which induced a weird destabilizing effect on FMT. (13)C NMR was used to investigate the interaction mode between FMT and the 2 CyDs. In vivo study of ODTs indicated a significant increase in C(max), AUC and oral bioavailability in the case of FMT-CM-beta-CyD tablets, compared with plain drug tablets. However, no sign...

Background/Objectives: Free amino acids affect food palatability. As information on amino acids in frequently purchased prepackaged food is virtually absent, we analyzed free amino acid patterns of 17 frequently purchased ready-to-serve convenience food products, and compared them with the information obtained from the respective food labels. Subjects/Methods: Quantitative amino acid analysis was performed using ion-exchange chromatography. g-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations were verified using a stable isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The patterns of free amino acids were compared with information obtained from food labels. Results: An obvious mismatch between free amino acid patterns and food label information was detected. Even on considering that tomatoes and cereal proteins are naturally rich in glutamate, the concentrations of free glutamate outranged the natural concentration of this amino acid in several products, and strongly suggested artificial enrichment. Free glutamate was found to be elevated even in dishes that explicitly state 'no glutamate added'. Arginine was markedly elevated in lentils. Free cysteine was generally low, possibly reflecting thermal destruction of this amino acid during food processing. The meat and brain-specific dipeptide carnosine (CARN) was present in most meat-containing products. Some products did not contain detectable amounts of CARN in spite of meat content being claimed on the food labels. We detected GABA at concentrations that contribute significantly to the taste sensation. Conclusion: This investigation highlights a marked mismatch between food label information and food composition.

Many studies have found processing interference in working memory when complex information that enters the cognitive system from different modalities has to be integrated to understand the environment and promote adjustment. Here, we report on a Stroop study that provides evidence concerned with the crossmodal processing of flavour perception and visual language. We found a facilitation effect in the congruency condition. Acceleration was observed for incomplete words and anagrams compared to complete words. A crossmodal completion account is presented for such findings. It is concluded that the crossmodal integration between flavour and visual language perception requires the active participation of top-down and bottom-up processing.