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Chemicals Give Taste to Foods

Posted on: Thursday, 8 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Question: Can gustatory science tell us . . . What makes your favorite food or drink taste so darn good?

Answer: Something like 800 odorants exist, with a few or a few dozen combining into hundreds of unique experiences, says Cornell food scientist Terry Acree. Certain flavorants turn up again and again, such as cis-roseoxide, a component of flowers used in perfumes and that gives Lychee fruit a recognizable smell and Gewurztraminer wine a unique "Lychee note."

Chemoreceptors on the tongue produce perceptions of salt, sour, sweet and savory, responding to many fewer chemicals than the nose. Perceptions of hot, cool, astringent, pain and texture also are part of flavor, called "chemesthesis.""Taken together, about 1,000 chemicals go into flavor, that then combine with those for smell to create the singular food and drink experience."

And more: Flavor perceptions are modified by memory and emotion - - "Hum, this smells like salmon. But it doesn't taste like fresh salmon. It tastes spoiled. Yak! Spit!"

Oddly, it is entirely possible to have something smell great and taste terrible, as was often the case with wild fruits and vegetables before people bred them for better taste, says Acree. "Other foods, such as the tropical fruit durian -- banned from hotels and airlines -- may smell horrible but taste good," adds Cornell biochemist Karl Siebert. And according to Washington State University's Charles G. Edwards, "there are even molecules that you can't smell (tannins) that are so astringent you would really pucker up even though the food smelled good."

Question: Teratogens are environmental agents that can cause harm to a human embryo or fetus -- alcohol, tobacco, aspirin, etc. As the list of these continues to grow, moms-and-dads-to-be grow increasingly concerned. In fact, what fraction of babies are born healthy, without abnormalities?

a) 76 percent

b) 86 percent

c) 96 percent

Answer: Thanks to the marvels of human biology, only 4 percent (c) of babies are born with abnormalities, and most of these are so slight as to have minimal impact on daily function, say V. Gregory Payne and Larry D. Isaacs in "Human Motor Development: A Lifespan Approach."

In the battle against these problems is a growing array of diagnostic prenatal tools -- ultrasound, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, the alpha-fetoprotein test, and the triple marker screening blood test -- not cures of course but welcome aids in alerting expectant parents and health-care professionals.

Question: This natural substance has demonstrable healing properties, particularly for burns and ulcers, and has been used medicinally since ancient times -- Roman soldiers were issued some in their first-aid kits. It also helps cut healing time for Fournier's gangrene, aids against respiratory problems, and helps halt the development of senile cortical cataracts. This well- stocked "medicine chest" can contain alpha-tocopherol, alkaloids, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), beta-carotene, flavonoids and peroxidase - - all antioxidants helping to fight arthritis, strokes, some cancers. And since oxidative or prooxidant chemicals can cause DNA damage that hastens aging, this sticky stopper is one of Nature's sweeter fountains of youth. What is it?

Answer: It's a HONEY of a thought that something so natural can work such wonders for the human body, says University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign entomologist May Berenbaum, author of "Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs."

Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@compuserve.com

Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

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