Food Chemistry - Combining Foods

Knowing how the different combinations of foods react in the body, and how they taste.



Learning how to maximize your health and energy without having to eat more. Learn about the chemistry of food, and how certain foods that are eaten together can benefit you, and how other foods that are eaten together can actually minimize the benefits from those foods. The timing of when you should eat certain foods is also important. Like if you eat bread before your main meal you could spike your blood sugar and amp up your appetite. But if you eat the bread after your dinner you will slow down the process of carbohydrates turning into sugar. Food combinations also effect flavor and taste. You can eat the same healthy foods everyday, but there are some foods that you shouldn't eat all the time everyday. It's important to vary your diet to make sure that you are covering all your nutritional needs, and that you're not getting too much of any one food, because some foods can be harmful to certain people, and you could also develop intolerances. You should also know which vitamins that should be taken together for maximum effect, and know which supplements that should not be taken together. 

Food Chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods.

Additives - Allergies - Taste - Smell

Ingredient is a component of a mixture or compound.  An abstract part of something. Food that is a component of a mixture in cooking.

Concoction is  any foodstuff made by combining different ingredients. An occurrence of an unusual mixture. The invention of a scheme or story to suit some purpose. The act of creating something such as a medicine or drink or soup by compounding or mixing a variety of components.

Medication Drugs and Food Interactions - What you eat and drink can affect the way your medicines work.

Food Physical Chemistry is considered to be a branch of Food chemistry concerned with the study of both physical and chemical interactions in foods in terms of physical and chemical principles applied to food systems, as well as the applications of physical/chemical techniques and instrumentation for the study of foods. Seasoning - Additives - Food Labels.

Food Science is the applied science devoted to the study of food. The Institute of Food Technologists defines food science as "the discipline in which the engineering, biological, and physical sciences are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration, the principles underlying food processing, and the improvement of foods for the consuming public.

Food Engineering is a multidisciplinary field of applied physical sciences which combines science, microbiology, and engineering education for food and related industries. Food engineering includes, but is not limited to, the application of agricultural engineering, mechanical engineering and chemical engineering principles to food materials. Food engineers provide the technological knowledge transfer essential to the cost-effective production and commercialization of food products and services. Physics, chemistry, and mathematics are fundamental to understanding and engineering products and operations in the food industry.

Mixologist is a person who creates cocktails; a bartender. Mixology is the art of combining various ingredients to make cocktails. So we can teach Chemistry and get Drunk at the same time, awesome. In scientific terms it would be exploring the effects of alcohol on the human mind and body. And not all students will drink because you will need some students to be researchers who are sober and not affected by a chemical substance, so that their judgment, cognition, consciousness, memory, concentration, function, performance, ability, capacity, vision, hearing and mobility is not impaired in any way.

Flavor and balance are probably the most important components of cocktail quality, but it's the temperature, texture, aroma, strength, and presentation that makes for a wel-rounded drink. Some Texture Descriptors for Cocktails and Spirits are: Thick, syrupy, not dilute enough. Thin, weak, non-integrated, over-shaken. Silky. Light. Bubbly, fizzy. Tannic, astringent. Soft, pillowy, foamy, frothy. Slushy, viscous, chewy. Crunchy. (crisp, firm, dry, and brittle). Gloppy, chunky (pieces of a substance mixed in with something creamier). Viscosity - Pudding (wiki) - Watery or Creamy? Cold or Warm?

Food’s Texture Impacts a Food’s Perceived Flavor.

Creamy is food or drink having the rich taste or a thick smooth texture.

Rheology is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a liquid state, but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an applied force. It is a branch of physics which deals with the deformation and flow of materials, both solids and liquids. Newtonian fluids can be characterized by a single coefficient of Viscosity for a specific temperature. Although this viscosity will change with temperature, it does not change with the strain rate. Only a small group of fluids exhibit such constant viscosity. The large class of fluids whose viscosity changes with the strain rate (the relative flow velocity) are called non-Newtonian fluids.

Precision Cooking: enabling new Textures and Flavors | Lecture 2 (2011) (youtube, 1:52) - Science Center Harvard University.

Distillation (making alcohol) 

“To our brains, 'taste' is actually a fusion of a food's taste, smell and touch into a single sensation. Texture and odor play as important a role as taste buds in the way we experience what we eat."

Food Label Meanings - Processed Food - Acid Foods and PH

Scio is a Pocket Molecular Sensor that Tells You What's Really in the Food like calories, and sugar and fat.

Molecular Gastronomy is a subdiscipline of food science that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur in cooking. Its program includes three axes, as cooking was recognized to have three components, which are social, artistic and technical. Molecular cuisine is a modern style of cooking, and takes advantage of many technical innovations from the scientific disciplines.

Organic Synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules often contain a higher level of complexity than purely inorganic compounds, so that the synthesis of organic compounds has developed into one of the most important branches of organic chemistry.

Food Synergy
Food Matrix Chart (image)

Food Combining also known as trophology, is a term for a nutritional approach that advocates specific combinations of foods as central to good health and weight loss (such as not mixing carbohydrate-rich foods and protein-rich foods in the same meal).

Food Paring for Flavor

Sommelier or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role in fine dining today is much more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter.

Fusion Cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different Culinary Traditions.

Cooking Effects on Food - Nutrition Knowledge - Intercropping

Antinutrient are natural or synthetic compounds that interfere with the absorption or nutrients. Nutrition studies focus on
those antinutrients commonly found in food sources and beverages. Protease inhibitors are substances that inhibit the actions of trypsin, pepsin and other proteases in the gut, preventing the digestion and subsequent absorption of protein. For example, Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitor is found in soybeans. Examples: Protease inhibitors are substances that inhibit the actions of trypsin, pepsin and other proteases in the gut, preventing the digestion and subsequent absorption of protein. For example, Bowman–Birk trypsin inhibitor is found in soybeans. Lipase inhibitors interfere with enzymes, such as human pancreatic lipase, that catalyze the hydrolysis of some lipids, including fats. For example, the anti-obesity drug orlistat causes a percentage of fat to pass through the digestive tract undigested. Amylase inhibitors prevent the action of enzymes that break the glycosidic bonds of starches and other complex carbohydrates, preventing the release of simple sugars and absorption by the body. Amylase inhibitors, like lipase inhibitors, have been used as a diet aid and obesity treatment. Amylase inhibitors are present in many types of beans; commercially available amylase inhibitors are extracted from white kidney beans. Phytic acid has a strong binding affinity to minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc. This results in precipitation, making the minerals unavailable for absorption in the intestines. Phytic acids are common in the hulls of nuts, seeds and grains. Oxalic acid and oxalates are present in many plants, particularly in members of the spinach family. Oxalates bind to calcium and prevent its absorption in the human body. Glucosinolates prevent the uptake of iodine, affecting the function of the thyroid and thus are considered goitrogens. They are found in broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. Excessive intake of required nutrients can also result in them having an anti-nutrient action. Excessive intake of fiber can reduce the transit time through the intestines to such a degree that other nutrients cannot be absorbed. Because calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium share the same transporter within the intestine, excessive consumption of one of these minerals can lead to saturation of the transport system and reduced absorption of the other minerals. Some proteins can also be antinutrients, such as the trypsin inhibitors and lectins found in legumes. These enzyme inhibitors interfere with digestion. Another particularly widespread form of antinutrients are the flavonoids, which are a group of polyphenolic compounds that include tannins. These compounds chelate metals such as iron and zinc and reduce the absorption of these nutrients, but they also inhibit digestive enzymes and may also precipitate proteins. Saponins in plants may serve as anti-feedants. Nutrients - Nutrition.

Eating Tips

You'll get more plant-based iron from black beans if you eat them with something rich in vitamin C, like red pepper.
Effects of egg consumption on carotenoid absorption from co-consumed, raw vegetables
Hummus made with sesame seeds (in tahini) slathered on whole wheat bread gives you all the amino acids to form a complete protein.

Phytates — a kind of acid — in things like tea and coffee may decrease the absorption of iron and zinc.
Combining Turmeric and Black Pepper makes curcumin, the pigment in turmeric that has anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties, easier for the body to access.

Influence of Piperine on the Pharmacokinetics of Curcumin.

Pharmacokinetics is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determining the fate of substances administered to a living organism.

Liberation is the process of release of a drug from the pharmaceutical formulation. See also IVIVC.

Absorption is the process of a substance entering the blood circulation. Soluble.

Distribution is the dispersion or dissemination of substances throughout the fluids and tissues of the body.

Metabolization or biotransformation, or inactivation, is the recognition by the organism that a foreign substance is present and the irreversible transformation of parent compounds into daughter metabolites.

Excretion is the removal of the substances from the body. In rare cases, some drugs irreversibly accumulate in body tissue.

Foods digest at different rates: Wait 2 hours after eating fruit, 3 hours after eating starches, 4 hours after eating protein.

Coffee

Taking vitamins at the same time as a cup of coffee or tea can interfere with the body's absorption of many necessary nutrients. It is probably better to consume your caffeine between meals, not just before or just after. Caffeine is also a mild diuretic, which increases urination. Dehydration. So water soluble vitamins, such as the B-vitamins, can be depleted as a result of the fluid loss. Water-soluble vitamins: Vitamin C, biotin and the seven B vitamins — thiamin (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6), folic acid (B-9) and cobalamin (B-12). Fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E or K. Coffee also increases the excretion of the minerals magnesium, potassium, sodium and phosphate. There is also evidence that caffeine interferes with the action of vitamin A. Unfiltered coffee is a significant source of cafestol and kahweol, diterpenes that have been found to raise serum total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in humans. Oregon State Coffee Research - Brain Benefits from Coffee - Tea.

Caffeine causes calcium to be excreted in the urine and feces. For every 150 mg of caffeine ingested, about the amount in one cup of coffee, 5 mg of calcium is lost. Caffeine inhibits vitamin D receptors, which limit the amount that will be absorbed. Because vitamin D is important in the absorption and use of calcium in building bone, this could also decrease bone mineral density, resulting in an increased risk for osteoporosis. Caffeine interferes with the body's absorption of iron, which is necessary for red blood cell production. Caffeine may reduce the absorption of manganese, zinc and copper. So don't take vitamins with coffee, wait a couple of hours. Caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug. A central nervous system stimulant of the methylxanthine class. The most prominent is that it reversibly blocks the action of adenosine on its receptor and consequently prevents the onset of drowsiness induced by adenosine. Caffeine also stimulates certain portions of the autonomic nervous system. Coffee stimulates the adrenal glands, triggering the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, so anxiety levels could be high in the morning. If you stop drinking coffee you may experienced headaches from caffeine withdrawal, but this should subsided after a few days.

The Plant: There are around 70 types of the Coffea flowering plant, and two major types, Coffea Arabica (Arabica beans) and Coffea canephora var. Robusta (Robusta beans). Coffee Production - The Coffee Faq - The History of Coffee.

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, which are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant, which is a genus of flowering plants whose seeds, called coffee beans, are used to make various coffee beverages and products. It is a member of the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Coffee contains many phytochemicals, antioxidants and other nutrients that research has shown as beneficial to our bodies.

Roasting: Beans are baked somewhere between 180 and 250 degrees Celsius for somewhere between 2 and 25 minutes. During the scorch, sugars and fats degrade, amino acids and sugars react with each other, and degradation products spark chain reactions. culminates in the formation of dozens of aromatic compounds that make up that enticing coffee bouquet. Coffee Roasting - Maillard Reaction - High Heat Dangers.

Compounds: Compounds include aldehydes, ketones, furans, pyrazines, pyridines, phenolic compounds, indoles, lactones, esters and benzothiazines. But for chlorogenic acids, more roasting leads to less of these beneficial phenols. Chlorogenic acids: Around 45 of these phenolic compounds have been found in coffee caffeic acid, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
Trigonelline: This bitter alkaloid has been linked to protecting the brain from damage, blocking cancer cells from moving around, combating bacteria, and lowering blood sugar and total cholesterol. Kahweol and cafestol: These diterpenes, which contribute to the bitter taste of coffee, have been linked to preventing and battling cancer cells. But, they’ve also been linked to raising cholesterol.

Grinding: Using a standard home grinder for 42 seconds compared with 5 seconds doubled the amount of caffeine squeezed out of a 37 gram portion. Rok Hand Coffee Grinder - RAFINO Coffee Grind Refining System.

Brewing: Brewing methods are also critical for squeezing out the goodness of the beans. There’s a variety of methods to choose from: Brief boiling (Turkish), steeping (French press), Filtering (drip coffee), and pressurized (espresso). Espresso machines, which force hot (91-96 degrees Celsius) pressurized (~9 bar) water evenly over fine, well-packed coffee grinds, produces the brews with the most concentrated doses of caffeine. 

Cold-Brewed Coffee is 67 percent less acidic than hot-brewed. Also lowers the burnt flavor and bitterness that you get from hot-brewed coffee. Cold Brewed Tea.

World Brewers Cup is a competition which showcases the craft and skill of filter coffee brewing by hand. Aeropress.
Jolt - Brew Coffee & Tea in the Palm of Your Hand is a portable coffee and tea brewer that can brew anywhere in the world using rechargeable batteries.
Oomph Portable Coffee Maker fast hand powered portable coffee maker and travel cup!
Gina Coffee Brewer - kickstarter

In the early morning, our bodies produce high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone that helps us become more alert. Filling the body with caffeine first thing in the morning signals the body to make less cortisol, which means the body will start relying on coffee, rather than its natural functions, to wake up. So waiting a couple of hours after you wake up to drink your coffee will benefit you more. 

Coffee Drinking Info-Graph (image) - Coffee Consumption by Country (image)

Coffee I Like: seattles best post alley 5 dark roast, gevalia kaffe majestic roast, newmans own organics special blend medium roast, starbucks pike place roast, lavazza italy coffee kilimanjaro single origin, lavazza italy coffee classico medium roast, lavazza italy coffee gran aroma medium roast, peets coffee reserve ethiopia yargacheffe dark roast, brionis medium roast healthy morning.

If you don't like a particular coffee, mix it with a coffee you do like. As long as that something is good for you, then it helps to mix things you like with things you don't like, because it will always make things that you don't like a little more bearable. Balance. Seasoning. If you don't like something on its own, then mix it with something you do like. If something is still good and good for you, then there is no reason to throw it away. Food Waste. Mixing Pleasure with Responsibility.

Coffee grounds improve compost. Coffee grounds improve compost in two ways. They typically contain about 2% nitrogen (the same amount as manure), which feeds the micro-organisms that digest plant debris and turns it into compost. Second, as they decompose, coffee grounds have been shown to suppress common fungal rots and reduce the growth of E. coli and Staphylococcus spp, according to research published by Washington State University. For optimal compost disease-suppression, shoot for 10 to 20 percent coffee grounds per total compost volume. Earthworms also love coffee grounds. Leaving a bowlful of used grounds in the fridge overnight will rid your icebox of icky odors.

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee with Lion’s Mane & Chaga For Concentration + Focus, Vegan, Paleo, 0.09 Ounce (10 Count). Instant mushroom coffee is regular ground coffee with powders from medicinal mushrooms. It doesn’t taste like mushrooms it's the same as regular coffee except with endurance-boosting cordyceps, calming chaga, and lion’s mane mushroom extracts, which is thought to have cognitive-enhancing properties. anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, gut-friendly, contain high amounts of antioxidants (more than acai, blueberries, and cacao), and support our liver in flushing out toxins.

Coffee affects your metabolism in dozens of other ways besides waking you up, including your metabolism of neurotransmitters typically linked to cannabis. The neurotransmitters related to the endocannabinoid system -- the same ones affected by cannabis -- decreased after drinking four to eight cups of coffee in a day. That's the opposite of what occurs after someone uses cannabis. The study also gives possible insight in the cause of munchies. Coffee may also increase the elimination of steroids.

Theanine is an amino acid analogue of the proteinogenic amino acids L-glutamate and L-glutamine and is found primarily in particular plant and fungal species. It was discovered as a constituent of green tea in 1949 and in 1950 was isolated from gyokuro leaves. Theanine provides a unique brothy or savory (umami) flavor to green tea infusions.

Globally people drink around three billion cups of coffee each day. Moderate coffee drinking is mostly safe. But habitual coffee consumption or excessive coffee consumption can increase the risks of three diseases: osteoarthritis, arthropathy and obesity, which can cause significant pain and suffering for individuals with these conditions.  can lead to increased risks of certain diseases.

Things that can have an effect on caffeine levels in coffee. Caffeine is extremely stable during the roasting process. If you measure your coffee by scoops, light roasted coffee will have more caffeine. Since the beans are denser than a darker roast. However if you weigh out your scoops, darker roasts will have more caffeine, because there is less mass. Bean for bean, a light roast versus a dark roast, each would have relatively the same level of caffeine. There can be a change in caffeine depending on how you measure your coffee. There is an estimated ninety bean difference between a pound of dark and light roast coffee, with the dark roast winning the count. During the roasting process, a bean loses its mass. The density of the bean changes; beans that are roasted longer are less dense. That’s why you have more beans by mass of dark roasts. When coffee is roasted the beans lose roughly 90% of their water content. If you measure your coffee by scoops, light roasted coffee will have more caffeine. Caffeine is an insect repellant, so at very low altitudes, there’s more caffeine in coffee beans because there are more insects, and at very high altitudes, there are far fewer insects, so there’s less caffeine. High altitude coffees also tend to have more polyphenols thanks to nutrient-dense soils. The smaller the grind size, the bigger the surface area that gives you the very highest extraction. Different coffee brewing methods require differing grind sizes. Water temperature is another factor, higher temperatures have higher extractions. Pour-over techniques have the highest extractions. You generally have to use a slightly larger grind size than you do with the immersion techniques. If you use a very, very fine grind size in a pour-over, it just sops all the water up and nothing goes through. you can still extract quite a bit of caffeine from the medium to fine grind sizes used in this method. Using more coffee grounds will net you more caffeine, while using more water dilutes the brew. Turkish coffee combines ultra-fine coffee grinds and boiling water, with no filtering. This coffee can be pretty bitter thanks to over-extraction. A French press won’t get high extractions. Cold brew is an under-extraction technique and usually extract 75 to 80 percent of what you get in hot brew. The coffee brand that has the most caffeine content is Biohazard Coffee, with 928 mg of caffeine per 12-oz.

Protein

Protein Combining is a dietary strategy for protein nutrition by using complementary sources to optimize biological value and increase the protein quality.

Protein Complementation - Proteins (knowledge)

Try not mixing carbohydrate-rich foods and protein-rich foods in the same meal.

PH

Separating food into three groups: alkaline, acidic, and neutral Acidic foods are protein rich, such as meat, fish, dairy, etc. Alkaline foods are carbohydrate rich, such as rice, grains and potatoes. Hay Diet - Alkaline Diet - PH

Pairing Foods for Flavor Enhancement

Flavor is the sensory impression of food or other substance, and is determined primarily by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The "trigeminal senses", which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat as well as temperature and texture, are also important to the overall Gestalt of flavor perception. The flavor of the food, as such, can be altered with natural or artificial flavorants which affect these senses. Flavor Pairing.

Food Pairing is a method for identifying which foods go well together. The method is based on the principle that foods combine well with one another when they share key flavor components. Foodpairing is a relatively new method and is often confused with wine and food matching. By contrast, foodpairing uses HPLC, gas chromatography and other laboratory methods to analyse food and to find chemical components that they have in common.

Food Pairing discover new flavor combinations in seconds. Foods that Change Sense of Taste.

Food Combinations - Flavor Combinations - Food Combos

Eating Disorders

The Dorito Effect is when food lying to us. In nature, flavor and nutrition go hand in hand.

If Flavorist's from Flavor Companies really cared about people they would use their expertise to make healthy food taste good, not junk food. Making money at the expense of other peoples health is insane and criminal. Food Science.

Institute of Food Technologists

Sensory Analysis is a scientific discipline that applies principles of experimental design and statistical analysis to the use of human senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing) for the purposes of evaluating consumer products.

Lexical Gustatory Synesthesia is a rare form of synesthesia in which spoken and written language (as well as some colors and emotions) causes individuals to experience an automatic and highly consistent taste/smell.

How Food Color Changes the Experience of Taste

Tea and Food Pairing

Why does Delicious or Good Flavor not always mean Healthy?

Food Knowledge - Physical Health Knowledge

Food Photos - What People Eat - School Lunches

Smart Gastronomy Lab

3D Printing Food - NASA 3D Food - Smooth Food - Pureed Meals - Generation W

Natural Machines Video (youtube)

6 Sensor Labs Portable Allergen Sensor.

Trigeminal Nerve is a nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing.

Taste - Sense of Taste - Sweet - Salty - Sour - Bitter

Taste is one of the five traditional senses that belongs to the gustatory system. Taste is the sensation produced when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor cells located on taste buds in the oral cavity, mostly on the tongue. Taste, along with Smell (olfaction) and trigeminal nerve stimulation (registering texture, pain, and temperature), determines flavors of food or other substances. Humans have taste receptors on taste buds (gustatory calyculi) and other areas including the upper surface of the tongue and the epiglottis. Every Flavor is a Chemical Compound.

Umami, which is the fifth taste, which is the mysterious but interesting pleasant savory taste.

Sweet is having the characteristic taste of sugar that is pleasing to the senses and pleasing to the mind. Something that is not salty, sour, or bitter. Sweetness is usually regarded as a pleasurable sensation, is produced by the presence of sugars and a few other substances. Sweetness is often connected to aldehydes and ketones, which contain a carbonyl group. Sweetness is detected by a variety of G protein coupled receptors coupled to the G protein gustducin found on the taste buds. At least two different variants of the "sweetness receptors" must be activated for the brain to register sweetness. Compounds the brain senses as sweet are thus compounds that can bind with varying bond strength to two different sweetness receptors. These receptors are T1R2+3 (heterodimer) and T1R3 (homodimer), which account for all sweet sensing in humans and animals. Taste detection thresholds for sweet substances are rated relative to sucrose, which has an index of 1. The average human detection threshold for sucrose is 10 millimoles per liter. For lactose it is 30 millimoles per liter, with a sweetness index of 0.3, and 5-Nitro-2-propoxyaniline 0.002 millimoles per liter. “Natural” sweeteners such as saccharides activate the GPCR, which releases gustducin. The gustducin then activates the molecule adenylate cyclase, which catalyzes the production of the molecule cAMP, or adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate. This molecule closes potassium ion channels, leading to depolarization and neurotransmitter release. Synthetic sweeteners such as saccharin activate different GPCRs and induce taste receptor cell depolarization by an alternate pathway. Sweet Tooth is when a person has a strong craving for sweet food.

Saltiness is the simplest receptor found in the mouth, which is the sodium chloride (salt) receptor. Saltiness is a taste produced primarily by the presence of sodium ions. Other ions of the alkali metals group also taste salty, but the further from sodium, the less salty the sensation is. A sodium channel in the taste cell wall allows sodium cations to enter the cell. This on its own depolarizes the cell, and opens voltage-dependent calcium channels, flooding the cell with positive calcium ions and leading to neurotransmitter release. This sodium channel is known as an epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and is composed of three subunits. An ENaC can be blocked by the drug amiloride in many mammals, especially rats. The sensitivity of the salt taste to amiloride in humans, however, is much less pronounced, leading to conjecture that there may be additional receptor proteins besides ENaC to be discovered. The size of lithium and potassium ions most closely resemble those of sodium, and thus the saltiness is most similar. In contrast, rubidium and caesium ions are far larger, so their salty taste differs accordingly. The saltiness of substances is rated relative to sodium chloride (NaCl), which has an index of 1. Potassium, as potassium chloride (KCl), is the principal ingredient in salt substitutes and has a saltiness index of 0.6. Other monovalent cations, e.g. ammonium (NH4+), and divalent cations of the alkali earth metal group of the periodic table, e.g. calcium (Ca2+), ions generally elicit a bitter rather than a salty taste even though they, too, can pass directly through ion channels in the tongue, generating an action potential. But the chloride of calcium is saltier and less bitter than potassium chloride, and is commonly used in pickle brine instead of KCl.

Sourness is the taste that detects acidity. The sourness of substances is rated relative to dilute hydrochloric acid, which has a sourness index of 1. By comparison, tartaric acid has a sourness index of 0.7, citric acid an index of 0.46, and carbonic acid an index of 0.06. Sour taste is detected by a small subset of cells that are distributed across all taste buds in the tongue. Sour taste cells can be identified by expression of the protein PKD2L1, although this gene is not required for sour responses. There is evidence that the protons that are abundant in sour substances can directly enter the sour taste cells through apically located ion channels. This transfer of positive charge into the cell can itself trigger an electrical response. It has also been proposed that weak acids such as acetic acid, which is not fully dissociated at physiological pH values, can penetrate taste cells and thereby elicit an electrical response. According to this mechanism, intracellular hydrogen ions inhibit potassium channels, which normally function to hyperpolarize the cell. By a combination of direct intake of hydrogen ions (which itself depolarizes the cell) and the inhibition of the hyperpolarizing channel, sourness causes the taste cell to fire action potentials and release neurotransmitter. The most common food group that contains naturally sour foods is fruit, such as lemon, grape, orange, tamarind, and sometimes melon. Wine also usually has a sour tinge to its flavor, and if not kept correctly, milk can spoil and develop a sour taste. Children in the US and UK show a greater enjoyment of sour flavors than adults, and sour candy is popular in North America including Cry Babies, Warheads, Lemon drops, Shock Tarts and sour versions of Skittles and Starburst. Many of these candies contain citric acid or malic acid. Sweet Tarts are sweet and sour candies invented by Jeff Sousa in 1962. The candy was created using the same basic recipe as the already popular Pixy Stix and Lik-M-Aid products. Tart is something that tastes sour like a lemon.

International Bittering Units Scale, or simply IBU scale, is used to approximately quantify the bitterness of beer. This scale is not measured on the perceived bitterness of the beer, but rather the amount of iso-alpha acids. Isohumulone are chemical compounds that contribute to the bitter taste of beer and are in the class of compounds known as iso-alpha acids. They are found in hops. In the beer industry people don't have sweet tooths, they have hop tooths. Beer Measurements include bitterness, the variety of flavors present in the beverage, along with their intensity, alcohol content, and color. Standards for those characteristics allow a more objective and uniform determination to be made on the overall qualities of any beer.

Bitterness is the most sensitive of the tastes, and many perceive it as unpleasant, sharp, or disagreeable, but it is sometimes desirable and intentionally added via various bittering agents. Common bitter foods and beverages include coffee, unsweetened cocoa, South American mate, bitter gourd, olives, citrus peel, many plants in the family Brassicaceae, dandelion greens, wild chicory, and escarole. The ethanol in alcoholic beverages tastes bitter, as do the additional bitter ingredients found in some alcoholic beverages including hops in beer and orange in bitters. Quinine is also known for its bitter taste and is found in tonic water. Bitterness is of interest to those who study evolution, as well as various health researchers since a large number of natural bitter compounds are known to be toxic. The ability to detect bitter-tasting, toxic compounds at low thresholds is considered to provide an important protective function. Plant leaves often contain toxic compounds, yet even amongst leaf-eating primates, there is a tendency to prefer immature leaves, which tend to be higher in protein and lower in fiber and poisons than mature leaves. Amongst humans, various food processing techniques are used worldwide to detoxify otherwise inedible foods and make them palatable. Furthermore, the use of fire, changes in diet, and avoidance of toxins has led to neutral evolution in human bitter sensitivity. This has allowed several loss of function mutations that has led to a reduced sensory capacity towards bitterness in humans when compared to other species. The threshold for stimulation of bitter taste by quinine averages a concentration of 8 μM (8 micromolar). The taste thresholds of other bitter substances are rated relative to quinine, which is thus given a reference index of 1. For example, brucine has an index of 11, is thus perceived as intensely more bitter than quinine, and is detected at a much lower solution threshold. The most bitter substance known is the synthetic chemical denatonium, which has an index of 1,000. It is used as an aversive agent (a bitterant) that is added to toxic substances to prevent accidental ingestion. It was discovered in 1958 during research on lignocaine, a local anesthetic, by MacFarlan Smith of Gorgie, Edinburgh, Scotland.Research has shown that TAS2Rs (taste receptors, type 2, also known as T2Rs) such as TAS2R38 coupled to the G protein gustducin are responsible for the human ability to taste bitter substances. They are identified not only by their ability to taste for certain "bitter" ligands, but also by the morphology of the receptor itself (surface bound, monomeric). The TAS2R family in humans is thought to comprise about 25 different taste receptors, some of which can recognize a wide variety of bitter-tasting compounds. Over 670 bitter-tasting compounds have been identified, on a bitter database, of which over 200 have been assigned to one or more specific receptors. Recently it is speculated that the selective constraints on the TAS2R family have been weakened due to the relatively high rate of mutation and pseudogenization. Researchers use two synthetic substances, phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) to study the genetics of bitter perception. These two substances taste bitter to some people, but are virtually tasteless to others. Among the tasters, some are so-called "supertasters" to whom PTC and PROP are extremely bitter. The variation in sensitivity is determined by two common alleles at the TAS2R38 locus. This genetic variation in the ability to taste a substance has been a source of great interest to those who study genetics. Gustducin is made of three subunits. When it is activated by the GPCR, its subunits break apart and activate phosphodiesterase, a nearby enzyme, which in turn converts a precursor within the cell into a secondary messenger, which closes potassium ion channels. Also, this secondary messenger can stimulate the endoplasmic reticulum to release Ca2+ which contributes to depolarization. This leads to a build-up of potassium ions in the cell, depolarization, and neurotransmitter release. It is also possible for some bitter tastants to interact directly with the G protein, because of a structural similarity to the relevant GPCR.

Savoriness or savory is an appetitive taste and is occasionally described by its Japanese name, umami or meaty. It can be tasted in cheese and soy sauce, and is also found in many other fermented and aged foods. This taste is also present in tomatoes, grains, and beans. A loanword from Japanese meaning "good flavor" or "good taste", umami is considered fundamental to many Eastern cuisines; and other cuisines have long operated under principles that sought to combine foods to produce savory flavors, such as in the emphasis on veal stock by Auguste Escoffier, the pre-eminent chef of 19th century French cuisine, and in the Romans' deliberate use of fermented fish sauce. However, it was only recently recognized in modern science as a basic taste; well after the other basic tastes have been recognized by scientists, in part due to their correspondence with the four tastes of ancient Greek philosophy. Umami, or “scrumptiousness”, was first studied with the scientific method and identified by Kikunae Ikeda, who began to analyze kombu in 1907, attempting to isolate its dashi taste. He isolated a substance he called ajinomoto, Japanese for “at the origin of flavor”. His Ajinomoto Co., Inc. currently employs over 32,000 people. Ajinomoto was later identified as the chemical monosodium glutamate (MSG), and increasingly used independently as a food additive, it is a sodium salt that produces a strong savory taste, especially combined with foods rich in nucleotides such as meats, fish, nuts, and mushrooms. Some savory taste buds respond specifically to glutamate in the same way that "sweet" ones respond to sugar. Glutamate binds to a variant of G protein coupled glutamate receptors. It is thought that the amino acid L-glutamate bonds to a type of GPCR known as a metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR4). This causes the G-protein complex to activate a secondary receptor, which ultimately leads to neurotransmitter release. The intermediate steps are not known. (See TAS1R1 and TAS1R3 pages for a further explanation of the amino-acid taste receptor).

Sour food is felt in the lower jaw and neck because your salivary glands are working hard. Saliva is 99.5 percent water, but it also contains certain substances that help you chew, taste and swallow, as well as protect your teeth. Your body makes 2 to 4 pints of saliva every day, and most of it is produced in the late afternoon. However, your taste buds play an important role in how much saliva you make. Spicy foods, sweet foods and acidic, sour-tasting foods can trigger your salivary glands — which are located beneath your tongue, under your jaw and below your ears — to produce more saliva. And sometimes you can feel the glands at work, especially the large parotid glands situated between your jaw and ears.

Salivary Gland are Exocrine Glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands (parotid, submandibular, and sublingual) as well as hundreds of minor salivary glands. Salivary glands can be classified as serous, mucous or seromucous (mixed). In serous secretions, the main type of protein secreted is alpha-amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into maltose and glucose, whereas in mucous secretions the main protein secreted is mucin, which acts as a lubricant. In humans, between 0.5 and 1.5 litres of saliva are produced every day. The secretion of saliva (salivation) is mediated by parasympathetic stimulation; acetylcholine is the active neurotransmitter and binds to muscarinic receptors in the glands, leading to increased salivation.

Palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior bony hard palate, and the posterior fleshy soft palate (or velum).

Palate Cleanser is generally a neutral flavored element in food that enables to clear the palate from one flavor to another so that you can accurately taste the food without having other things that you have eaten affect or influence your taste perception. In cultures where diversity of flavors in dishes is customary, the palate cleanser is considered an essential companion to entrees.

Palatability is the hedonic reward (i.e., pleasure) provided by foods or fluids that are agreeable to the "palate", which often varies relative to the homeostatic satisfaction of nutritional, water, or energy needs. The palatability of a food or fluid, unlike its flavor or taste, varies with the state of an individual: it is lower after consumption and higher when deprived. Palatability of foods, however, can be learned. It has increasingly been appreciated that this can create a hedonic hunger that is independent of homeostatic needs.

Tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of most vertebrates that manipulates food for mastication, and is used in the act of swallowing. It is of importance in the digestive system and is the primary organ of taste in the gustatory system. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered in taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue also serves as a natural means of cleaning the teeth. A major function of the tongue is the enabling of speech in humans and vocalization in other animals.

Taste Buds contain the taste receptor cells, which are also known as gustatory cells. The taste receptors are located around the small structures known as papillae found on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, upper esophagus, the cheek and epiglottis. These structures are involved in detecting the five elements of taste perception: salty, sour, bitter, sweet and umami; through the combination of these elements we detect "flavors." A popular myth assigns these different tastes to different regions of the tongue; in reality these tastes can be detected by any area of the tongue. Via small openings in the tongue epithelium, called taste pores, parts of the food dissolved in saliva come into contact with the taste receptors. These are located on top of the taste receptor cells that constitute the taste buds. The taste receptor cells send information detected by clusters of various receptors and ion channels to the gustatory areas of the brain via the seventh, ninth and tenth cranial nerves. On average, the human tongue has 2,000–8,000 taste buds.

Taste Receptor is a type of receptor which facilitates the sensation of taste. When food or other substances enter the mouth, molecules interact with saliva and are bound to taste receptors in the oral cavity and other locations. Molecules which give a sensation of taste are considered "sapid". Taste receptors are divided into two families: Type 1, sweet, first characterized in 2001: TAS1R2 – TAS1R3. Type 2, bitter, first characterized in 2000: TAS2R1 – TAS2R50, and TAS2R60. Combinations of these receptors in dimers or other complexes contributes to different perceptions of taste. Visual, olfactive, “sapictive” (the perception of tastes), trigeminal (hot, cool), mechanical, all contribute to the perception of taste. Of these, transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) vanilloid receptors are responsible for the perception of heat from some molecules such as capsaicin, and a CMR1 receptor is responsible for the perception of cold from molecules such as menthol, eucalyptol, and icilin.

TAS2R38 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS2R38 gene. TAS2R38 is a bitter taste receptor.

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor is a protein that in humans is encoded by the AHR gene. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is a ligand-activated transcription factor involved in the regulation of biological responses to planar aromatic (aryl) hydrocarbons. This receptor has been shown to regulate xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as cytochrome P450. Phenotype.

Bitterness is natural warning system to protect us from harmful substances. But now we know that bitterness is only one factor that determines if something is safe to eat or dangerous to eat. Study found people sensitive to the bitter flavors of quinine and of PROP, a synthetic taste related to the compounds in cruciferous vegetables, avoided coffee. For alcohol, a higher sensitivity to the bitterness of PROP resulted in lower alcohol consumption, particularly of red wine. Relationship of papillae number to bitter intensity of quinine and PROP within and between individuals. Subjects were asked to assess the bitterness of one 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PROP) and two quinine HCl (QHCl) concentrations presented via filter papers of varying sizes. The number of taste papillae stimulated by these filter papers was counted in each individual. Whole mouth sensitivity to PROP was determined in a separate session. In support of other demonstrations of spatial summation, these data indicated that perceived bitterness intensity increased as a function of area of stimulation within subjects. Between subjects, there was a significant trend for the perceived bitterness of PROP to increase with the lingual density of fungiform papillae, although this trend was highly variable and was only demonstrable among those who showed at least moderate sensitivity to PROP. On the other hand, the number of stimulated fungiform papillae failed to account for individual differences in perceived bitterness of QHCl.

Dysgeusia is a distortion of the sense of taste. Dysgeusia is also often associated with ageusia, which is the complete lack of taste, and hypogeusia, which is a decrease in taste sensitivity. Taste Disorders.

Our taste buds and sense of smell are easily molded by our preconceptions and expectations. Can You Trust Your Taste Buds? (WINE CHALLENGE) (youtube) - 150 Aromas and Flavors that can be tasted in Wines.

Supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average, with some studies showing an increased sensitivity to bitter tastes. The cause of this heightened response is unknown, although it is thought to be related to the presence of the TAS2R38 gene, the ability to taste PROP and PTC, and, at least in part, due to an increased number of fungiform papillae. Any evolutionary advantage to supertasting is unclear. In some environments, heightened taste response, particularly to bitterness, would represent an important advantage in avoiding potentially toxic plant alkaloids. In other environments, increased response to bitterness may have limited the range of palatable foods.

Becoming a Taste Tester (wkihow) - How to Taste Test

Taste - Taste Facts - Flavoring Kits - Tasting Science

Taste and Oral Sensations vary in Humans.

Rewired Taste System Reveals How Flavors Move From Tongue to Brain.

The Brain Perceives Taste with All Senses, Research Reveals.

Associative learning changes cross-modal representations in the gustatory cortex.

Taste receptors really are everywhere, including the colon. And if it gets exposed to too much bitterness, it triggers a release of ions, which in turn causes water to pour into the gut via osmosis, and the body experiences diarrhea.

You can also gross yourself out. And people who get sick from a particular food will also perceive that food differently. People can also perceive certain foods differently when having Hypersensitivity or Hyposensitivity, which is less than normal sensitivity to a foreign agent, such as an allergen, in which the response is unusually delayed or lessened in degree. Also called hypoergia. Your flavor perception can also change when there is too many foods blended together, Crossmodal.

I don't let taste tell me what to eat. Though it's important that we understand that taste my be an indication that some food may not be safe for us to eat, we can not let taste stop us from eating food that we know is good for us.

Why do some foods smell bad but taste great? Things that smell good and taste bad are things that usually have a strong bitter component to their flavor, which you can taste with your tongue, but not smell. While both your nose and your tongue use chemical receptors, they don't respond to the same chemicals. Cheeses can smell like dirty socks but taste nice. Fermented fish sauce can smell like a freshly soiled diaper but be very tasty.

Olfactory white is a smell composed of many equally strong but diverse smells, perhaps over 30. Mixtures of many different smells across the perceptual range all tend to smell very similar to humans, despite different components making them up. The concept is similar to all different spectral colours combining to form white. Olfactory white is neither pleasant or unpleasant.

New type of taste cell discovered in taste buds. Study in mice identifies a taste cell that detects every taste but salt. They discovered a previously unknown subset of Type III cells that were "broadly responsive" and could announce sour stimuli using one signaling pathway, and sweet, bitter and umami stimuli using another. Taste buds employ three types of taste cells: Type I cells acts as support cells; Type II cells detect bitter, sweet and umami tastes; and Type III cells detect sour and salty flavors.

Temperature Affects Taste

Why does the temperature of food influence the taste? Because the effect of temperature is not uniform across compounds, it can be expected that the taste "profile" of a food will change as its temperature changes. If all else is equal, at hot temperatures bitter and sweet tastes should dominate salty and sour ones. Why does warm food taste different when it's cold? Some Foods Taste Different Hot or Cold. Most people prefer their soda cold and their coffee hot, and a new study shows that this could be because changes in the temperature of foods and drinks have an effect on the taste intensity of sour, bitter and astringent.

Why does Food Taste Better when it is Warm? According to the researchers, the reaction of TRPM5 in our taste buds is much more intense when the temperature of food or fluid is increased, sending a stronger electrical signal to the brain and resulting in an enhanced taste. "The clearest example for sweet taste is ice cream. Does Cold affect Taste Buds? So the cold merely blocks our nose and the sense of smell, but along with it our ability to taste food goes for a toss. Fever changes the way we taste food. You avoid food because it tastes bland and flavorless, because of what the cold has done to your taste buds. Cooking and Temperature affects on Bacteria and Nutrition.

The Shape of a Drinking Glass can Affect the Taste

Why does the Shape of a Drinking Glass affect the Taste? A wine glass that bows inward toward the rim concentrates alcohol aromas around the rim. This means that when we point your nose toward the center of a glass, the harshness of gaseous ethanol, or alcohol, is reduced, making wine aromas more distinct. And depending on the shape of your glass, when you drink you tilt your head differently, these different positions change the speed of wine hitting your tongue, as well as where it hits, and if the liquid hits the back of your tongue it may invoke a different taste sensation than if it hits the front, or sides. Temperature can also affect flavor too. Drinking Glass Types (image).

Our Perceptions of food can also effect flavor. People have been known to like a wine more when they were told it's expensive.

Slurping helps increase your tasting ability. Noisy consumption methods could actually affect tasting experience.

Hot Stuff that Burns

Capsaicin is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids and are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain mammals and fungi. Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, highly pungent, crystalline to waxy solid compound.

Shogaol are pungent constituents of ginger similar in chemical structure to gingerol. The most common of the group is (6)-shogaol. Like zingerone, it is produced when ginger is dried or cooked. Moreover, shogaol (and gingerol) are converted to other constituents when heat is applied over time, which is why ginger loses its spiciness as it is cooked.

Gingerol is a chemical compound found in fresh ginger. Chemically, gingerol is a relative of capsaicin and piperine, the compounds which give chilli peppers and black pepper their respective spiciness. It is normally found as a pungent yellow oil, but also can form a low-melting crystalline solid.

Zingerone is thought by some to be a key component of the pungency of ginger, but imparts the "sweet" flavor of cooked ginger. Zingerone is a crystalline solid that is sparingly soluble in water and soluble in ether. When synthesized and tasted does not have any pungency, suggesting it is more likely that zingerone is a decomposition product of, rather than the direct source of, the pungency of ginger. Zingerone is similar in chemical structure to other flavor chemicals such as vanillin and eugenol. It is used as a flavor additive in spice oils and in perfumery to introduce spicy aromas. Fresh ginger does not contain zingerone, but it is produced by cooking or drying of the ginger root, which causes a reverse aldol reaction on gingero.

Smells - Scents - Odors

The Power of Smell - The human nose can distinguish at least 1 trillion different odors.

Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, which can be considered analogous to sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates. In humans, olfaction occurs when odorant molecules bind to specific sites on the olfactory receptors. These receptors are used to detect the presence of smell. They come together at the glomerulus, a structure which transmits signals to the olfactory bulb (a brain structure directly above the nasal cavity and below the frontal lobe). Cranial Nerves.

Olfactory System is the part of the sensory system used for smelling (olfaction). Most mammals and reptiles have a main olfactory system and an accessory olfactory system. The main olfactory system detects airborne substances, while the accessory system senses fluid-phase stimuli. The senses of smell and taste (gustatory system) are often referred to together as the chemosensory system, because they both give the brain information about the chemical composition of objects through a process called transduction.

The sensors that detect odors in the nose are also present in human taste cells found on the tongue.

Smelling is a Chemical Sense that is stimulated by substances such as irritant solutions or vapours capable of exciting receptors in mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, eyes, and respiratory tract. Your ability to smell comes from specialized sensory cells, called olfactory sensory neurons, which are found in a small patch of tissue high inside the nose. These cells connect directly to the brain. Each olfactory neuron has one odor receptor. Once the neurons detect the molecules, they send messages to your brain, which identifies the smell. There are more smells in the environment than there are receptors, and any given molecule may stimulate a combination of receptors, creating a unique representation in the brain. These representations are registered by the brain as a particular smell. Smells reach the olfactory sensory neurons through two pathways. The first pathway is through your nostrils. The second pathway is through a channel that connects the roof of the throat to the nose. Chewing food releases aromas that access the olfactory sensory neurons through the second channel. If the channel is blocked, such as when your nose is stuffed up by a cold or flu, odors can’t reach the sensory cells that are stimulated by smells. As a result, you lose much of your ability to enjoy a food’s flavor. In this way, your senses of smell and taste work closely together. Without the olfactory sensory neurons, familiar flavors such as chocolate or oranges would be hard to distinguish. Without smell, foods tend to taste bland and have little or no flavor. Some people who go to the doctor because they think they’ve lost their sense of taste are surprised to learn that they’ve lost their sense of smell instead. Your sense of smell is also influenced by something called the common chemical sense. This sense involves thousands of nerve endings, especially on the moist surfaces of the eyes, nose, mouth, and throat. These nerve endings help you sense irritating substances—such as the tear-inducing power of an onion—or the refreshing coolness of menthol.

Olfactory Receptors act as Sensitive Chemical Sensors and are found in other areas of the body, and not just our nose. More of our DNA is devoted to genes for different olfactory receptors than for any other type of protein. Artificial Intelligent Sensors.

Hyperosmia is an increased olfactory acuity or heightened sense of smell that is usually caused by a lower threshold for odor. This perceptual disorder arises when there is an abnormally increased signal at any point between the olfactory receptors and the olfactory cortex. The causes of hyperosmia may be genetic, hormonal, environmental or the result of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. When odorants enter the nasal cavity, they bind to odorant receptors at the base of the olfactory epithelium. These receptors are bipolar neurons that connect to the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb, traveling through the cribriform plate. At the glomerular layer, axons from the olfactory receptor neurons intermingle with dendrites from intrinsic olfactory bulb neurons: mitrial/tufted cells and dopaminergic periglomerular cells. From the olfactory bulb, mitral/tufted cells send axons via the lateral olfactory tract (the cranial nerve I) to the olfactory cortex, which includes the piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, and parts of the amygdala. From the entorhinal cortex, axons extend to the medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus, which then proceed to the orbitofrontal cortex.

Hyperosmic individual, a “Super Smeller” who can detect Parkinson’s Disease by odor alone.

Genes on the move help Nose make sense of Scents. The human nose can distinguish one trillion different scents -- an extraordinary feat that requires 10 million specialized nerve cells, or neurons, in the nose, and a family of more than 400 dedicated genes. But precisely how these genes and neurons work in concert to pick out a particular scent has long puzzled scientists. This is in large part because the gene activity inside each neuron -- where each of these 10 million neurons only chooses to activate one of these hundreds of dedicated genes -- seemed far too simple to account for the sheer number of scents that the nose must parse.

Scientists Decode how the Brain Senses Smell. Past studies have shown that airborne molecules linked to scents trigger receptor cells lining the nose to send electric signals to nerve-ending bundles in the bulb called glomeruli, and then to brain cells (neurons). The timing and order of glomeruli activation is known to be unique to each smell, with signals then transmitted to the brain's cortex, which controls how an animal perceives, reacts to, and remembers a smell. But because scents can vary over time and mingle with others, scientists have until now struggled to precisely track a single smell signature across several types of neurons.

How Odours are turned into Long-Term Memories. Neuroscientists have investigated which brain area is responsible for storing odors as long-term memories. Some odors can trigger memories of experiences from years back. A new study shows that the piriform cortex, a part of the olfactory brain, is involved in the process of saving those memories; the mechanism, however, only works in interaction with other brain areas.

Mushroom Bodies known to play a role in olfactory learning and memory.

Olfactory Memory refers to the recollection of odors.

Why Do We Love The Smell of Fall?

Piriform Cortex is a region in the brain, part of the rhinencephalon situated in the cerebrum. The function of the piriform cortex relates to the sense of smell.

European Olfactory Heritage Project and Sensory Mining is finding what are the key scents, fragrant spaces, and olfactory practices that have shaped our cultures? How can we extract sensory data from large-scale digital text and image collections? How can we represent smell in all its facets in a database? How should we safeguard our olfactory heritage? And — why should we? Mining Sensory Data.

Knowledge Mining Sensory Evaluation Data is a challenging process due to extreme sparsity of the data, and a large variation in responses from different members (called assessors) of the panel. The main goals of knowledge mining in sensory sciences are understanding the dependency of the perceived liking score on the concentration levels of flavors’ ingredients, identifying ingredients that drive liking, segmenting the panel into groups with similar liking preferences and optimizing flavors to maximize liking per group. Our approach employs (1) Genetic programming (symbolic regression) and ensemble methods to generate multiple diverse explanations of assessor liking preferences with confidence information; (2) statistical techniques to extrapolate using the produced ensembles to unobserved regions of the flavor space, and segment the assessors into groups which either have the same propensity to like flavors, or are driven by the same ingredients; and (3) two-objective swarm optimization to identify flavors which are well and consistently liked by a selected segment of assessors.

Sensory Science is a multidisciplinary field comprising measurement, interpretation and understanding of human responses to product properties as perceived by the senses such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.

Effect of odor on helpfulness in Rats. Despite their reputation, rats are surprisingly sociable and regularly help each other out. Researchers have shown that a rat just has to smell another rat that is engaged in helpful behavior to increase their own helpfulness. This is the first study to show that just the smell of a cooperating rat is enough to trigger a helpful response.

Smelling Errors

Smell Disorders. People who have a Smell Disorders either have a decrease in their ability to smell or changes in the way they perceive odors.

Hyposmia [high-POSE-mee-ah] is a reduced ability to detect odors.

Anosmia [ah-NOSE-mee-ah] is the complete inability to detect odors. In rare cases, someone may be born without a sense of smell, a condition called congenital anosmia. Anosmia is the inability to perceive odor or a lack of functioning olfaction—the loss of the sense of smell. Anosmia may be temporary, but some anosmia (including traumatic anosmia) can be permanent. Anosmia is due to a number of factors, including an inflammation of the nasal mucosa, blockage of nasal passages or a destruction of one temporal lobe. Inflammation is due to chronic mucosa changes in the paranasal sinus lining and the middle and superior turbinates.

Parosmia [pahr-OZE-mee-ah] is a change in the normal perception of odors, such as when the smell of something familiar is distorted, or when something that normally smells pleasant now smells foul. Parosmia is an olfactory dysfunction that is characterized by the inability of the brain to properly identify an odor's "natural" smell. What happens instead, is that the natural odor is transcribed into what is most often described as an unpleasant aroma, typically a "'burned,' 'rotting,' 'fecal,' or 'chemical' smell." There are instances, however, of pleasant odors. This is more specifically called euosmia (Gk.).

Olfactory Fatigue is the temporary, normal inability to distinguish a particular odor after a prolonged exposure to that airborne compound. For example, when entering a restaurant initially the odor of food is often perceived as being very strong, but after time the awareness of the odor normally fades to the point where the smell is not perceptible or is much weaker. After leaving the area of high odor, the sensitivity is restored with time. This is one of the reasons why we can't tell how bad we smell because we adapt to smells very quickly.

Phantosmia [fan-TOES-mee-ah] is the sensation of an odor that isn’t there. Phantosmia is an olfactory hallucination of smelling an odor that is not actually there. It can occur in one nostril or both. Unpleasant phantosmia, cacosmia, is more common and is often described as smelling something that is burned, foul, spoiled, or rotten. Experiencing occasional phantom smells is normal and usually goes away on its own in time. When hallucinations of this type do not seem to go away or when they keep coming back, it can be very upsetting and can disrupt an individual's quality of life. Phantom odors affect 1 in 15 Americans. Synesthesia - Sound Perception.

Masking a Smell means to neutralize the causes of certain odors by using other things that absorb the odor or cover up the odor. Noise Cancelation.

Sense of smell can have a big impact on appetite, food preferences, and the ability to smell danger signals such as fire, gas leaks, and spoiled food.

Sense of smell declines in old age. The production of olfactory neurons diminishes with advancing age.

Otorhinolaryngology is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with conditions of the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and related structures of the head and neck. Doctors who specialize in this area are called otorhinolaryngologists, otolaryngologists, ENT doctors, ENT surgeons, or head and neck surgeons. Patients seek treatment from an otorhinolaryngologist for diseases of the ear, nose, throat, base of the skull, and for the surgical management of cancers and benign tumors of the head and neck.

Odorless is something having no odor and can not be smelled or noticed. Odorless Gas.

Odor Detection Threshold is the lowest concentration of a certain odor compound that is perceivable by the human sense of smell. The threshold of a chemical compound is determined in part by its shape, polarity, partial charges, and molecular mass. The olfactory mechanisms responsible for a compound's different detection threshold is not well understood. As such, odor thresholds cannot be accurately predicted. Rather, they must be measured through extensive tests using human subjects in laboratory settings. Optical isomers can have different detection thresholds because their conformations may cause them to be less perceivable for the human nose. It is only in recent years that such compounds were separated on gas chromatographs that are used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition.

Puff adders are chemically camouflaged so that they're difficult to detect by smell. Puff adders are so difficult to detect by scent that trained snake-finding dogs can walk over a live adder without noticing. They also have patterns that camouflage them visually.

Scientists find a new way to understand Odors. A mathematical model reveals a map for odors from the natural environment. Scientists have discovered a new way to organize odor molecules based on how often they occur together in nature, and to map this data to discover regions of odor combinations humans find most pleasurable.

How COVID-19 causes Smell Loss. Olfactory support cells, not neurons, are vulnerable to novel coronavirus infection. Loss of smell, or anosmia, is one of the earliest and most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19. A new study identifies the olfactory cell types most vulnerable to infection by the novel coronavirus. Surprisingly, sensory neurons involved in smell are not among the vulnerable cell types. Reporting in Science Advances on July 24, the research team found that olfactory sensory neurons do not express the gene that encodes the ACE2 receptor protein, which SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells. Instead, ACE2 is expressed in cells that provide metabolic and structural support to olfactory sensory neurons, as well as certain populations of stem cells and blood vessel cells. The findings suggest that infection of nonneuronal cell types may be responsible for anosmia in COVID-19 patients and help inform efforts to better understand the progression of the disease. The team focused on the gene ACE2, widely found in cells of the human respiratory tract, which encodes the main receptor protein that SARS-CoV-2 targets to gain entry into human cells. They also looked at another gene, TMPRSS2, which encodes an enzyme thought to be important for SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cell. The analyses revealed that both ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are expressed by cells in the olfactory epithelium -- a specialized tissue in the roof of the nasal cavity responsible for odor detection that houses olfactory sensory neurons and a variety of supporting cells. Neither gene, however, was expressed by olfactory sensory neurons. By contrast, these neurons did express genes associated with the ability of other coronaviruses to enter cells. The researchers found that two specific cell types in the olfactory epithelium expressed ACE2 at similar levels to what has been observed in cells of the lower respiratory tract, the most common targets of SARS-CoV-2, suggesting a vulnerability to infection. These included sustentacular cells, which wrap around sensory neurons and are thought to provide structural and metabolic support, and basal cells, which act as stem cells that regenerate the olfactory epithelium after damage. The presence of proteins encoded by both genes in these cells was confirmed by immunostaining. In additional experiments, the researchers found that olfactory epithelium stem cells expressed ACE2 protein at higher levels after artificially induced damage, compared with resting stem cells. This may suggest additional SARS-CoV-2 vulnerability, but it remains unclear whether or how this is important to the clinical course of anosmia in patients with COVID-19, the authors said. Datta and colleagues also analyzed gene expression in nearly 50,000 individual cells in the mouse olfactory bulb, the structure in the forebrain that receives signals from olfactory sensory neurons and is responsible for initial odor processing. Neurons in the olfactory bulb did not express ACE2. The gene and associated protein were present only in blood vessel cells, particularly pericytes, which are involved in blood pressure regulation, blood-brain barrier maintenance and inflammatory responses. No cell types in the olfactory bulb expressed the TMPRSS2 gene. Smell loss clue. Together, these data suggest that COVID-19-related anosmia may arise from a temporary loss of function of supporting cells in the olfactory epithelium, which indirectly causes changes to olfactory sensory neurons, the authors said.

Odors - Aromas

Odor is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors.

Scent is a distinctive odor that is pleasant. Any property detected by the olfactory system. An odor left in passing by which a person or animal can be traced. Catch the scent of; get wind of. A toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor. Cause to smell or be smelly. Apply perfume to. Scented Products - Yankee Scents - Scented Oils.

Aroma is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. A chemical-compound has a smell or odor when it is sufficiently volatile to be transported to the olfactory system in the upper-part of the nose.

Aroma-Therapy - The Power of Scent.

The Scent of Coffee appears to Boost Performance in Math. Smelling a coffee-like scent, which has no caffeine in it, creates an expectation for students that they will perform better on tests.

Memories are most emotional when they’re triggered by scent, as opposed to sight or sound or anything else.

Potpourri is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material, used to provide a gentle natural scent inside buildings, most commonly in residential settings. It is usually placed in a decorative (often wooden) bowl, or tied in small sachet made from sheer fabric.

Make Potpourri Dried Flowers

Fragrance Shop - The Scent Wizard

Digitizing Scent - Send Postagram Postcards from your iPhone or Android 

Pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individuals. Oxytocin.

Tristram Wyatt: Human Pheromone (video)

That Smell - Lynyrd Skynyrd (youtube song) Ooooh that smell, The smell of death surrounds you.

Why it's hard for you to Smell Yourself accurately, I don't Stink, you Stink. Our inability to smell our own oral odor stems from some evolutionary adaptation. After all, certain scents just don't need to be detected all the time so the mind Filters out the overwhelming majority of chemical aromas that surround us. The same principle applies to your breath. Your nose and mouth are connected, as are your senses of taste and smell. Because of this interconnectedness, this system must ignore the presence of certain constant odors, one of which is bad breath. Have you ever wondered why you can't smell the inside of your nose? There's a fairly simple reason - if you could, it would be harder to smell everything else.

Bad Breath is a symptom in which a noticeably unpleasant odor is present on the breath. About 85% of cases come from inside the mouth from many different causes. (also known as halitosis). Teeth

Olfactory Reference Syndrome is a psychiatric condition in which there is a persistent false belief and preoccupation with the idea of emitting abnormal body odors which the patient thinks that are foul and offensive to other individuals.

Body Odor - Sweat - Hygiene

Why I like the Smell of my own Farts. There probably isn’t a single human on planet Earth that enjoys the smell of another person’s farts. But what about our own? Turns out, when it comes to our flatulence, we’re actually a-ok with the odor. In other words, we kind of, sort of actually enjoy sniffing our own toots. Our farts are completely unique to us. This is due to the one-of-a-kind bacterial brew we each possess in our digestive and gut tracts. Gas is generated when these bacteria work on what we’ve ate or drank, and when it’s mixed all together, well, it gives us a special little fart fingerprint, if you will. You don’t like other people’s flatulence because your brain detects it as something that is trying to harm your body. Farts can actually spread disease, so they really can kill. So the next time you're in a car with a friend and the windows are up, and you blow a fart, when your friend says, "Dude you're killing me with those farts", that person might be telling the truth. Deadpool Used to be Gay - Family Guy (youtube).

The Smelling of food controls cellular recycling and affects life expectancy. The smelling of food affects physiology and aging, according to research conducted on the model organism, the roundworm. Surprisingly, this relationship is due to a single pair of olfactory neurons. The smell of food induces a variety of physiological processes in our body. Thus, the production of saliva and digestive enzymes is stimulated before the actual food intake in order to prepare the gastrointestinal tract for the upcoming digestive process. In a healthy organism, this coordination depends on a dynamic balance between formation and degradation of proteins (proteostasis). This plays an important role for the recycling of cells and during the aging process. Two of the 358 neurons that form the nematode nervous system are part of the olfactory system, and thus important for odour perception. The impact of odours at the cellular level is a poorly investigated field.

Nematode Nervous System is characterized by an rear nerve ring around the area of the pharynx (area deep inside the mouth cavity) and two pairs of lengthwise nerve cords that run down the body. There are also dorsal (back) and ventral (belly) nerve cords as well as a set of lateral nerve cords across the body.

Quantum Sense Of Smell theory suggests that an effect of quantum physics known as tunneling is actually taking place, and that receptors in the nose are actually identifying molecules by their distinct molecular vibrations rather than their shapes.

Vibration Theory of Olfaction or the vibration theory of smell proposes that a molecule's smell character is due to its vibrational frequency in the infrared range. This controversial theory is an alternative to the more widely accepted docking theory of olfaction (formerly termed the shape theory of olfaction), which proposes that a molecule's smell character is due to a range of weak non-covalent interactions between its protein odorant receptor (found in the nasal epithelium), such as electrostatic and Van der Waals interactions as well as H-bonding, dipole attraction, pi-stacking, metal ion, cation-pi interaction, and hydrophobic effects, in addition to the molecule's conformation.

Learning to Cook - Food Photos