Nutritional enhancement of foods through the control of aroma and taste availability

食物的香味和味道通常被认为是整体喜好的重要贡献者。虽然最近的重点是重新制定食品，以减少热量，糖，盐和脂肪，假设这些成分的变化不会对感官特性产生不利影响。另一方面，最近的研究表明，重新配制和掺入内含物（例如空气）都会影响产品的感官特性，并最终影响消费者对产品的喜爱。不幸的是，影响风味活性成分从固体食物中释放的基本机制，气味剂和促味剂与唾液和口腔粘膜相互作用的原理，以及最终对食物感官知觉的影响仍然难以捉摸。我们建议研究风味释放的基本原理，以及食品成分和基质结构对香味和味道活性成分释放的影响。该测量应允许真实的实时监测关键食品增味剂和促味剂从不同糖食基质，特别是非脂基糖食基质的释放。研究结果应与人类感官研究联系起来，以了解分析方法的机会和局限性。将使用开发的分析工具跟踪各种配方修改的影响以及基质中的内含物对气味剂和味剂释放的影响。此外，将研究这些实时分析结果转化为感官研究。最后，更多的光将阐明的分子机制的味道释放。学生将从诺丁汉和雀巢之间的合作中获得现实世界的工业研究经验，作为扩大配方和包含参数范围的更广泛努力的一部分，使更健康的产品具有理想的感官特性。

The aroma and taste of foods are generally recognized as important contributors to the overall liking. While a recent focus was set on the reformulation of foods to enable the reduction of calories, sugar, salt and fat, the assumption was taken that these compositional changes will not adversely impact the sensory characteristics. On the other hand, recent work illustrated that both the reformulation and the incorporation of inclusions (e.g. air) affect the sensory properties and ultimately consumers liking of a product. Unfortunately the fundamental mechanisms influencing the release of flavour active components from solid foods, the principles of the interaction of odorants and tastants with saliva and the oral mucosa, and finally the impact on the sensory perception of the food remain elusive. We propose to study the fundamentals of flavour release and the impact of food composition and structure of the matrix on the release of aroma- and taste active components. The measurements should allow to monitor in real time the release of key food odorants and tastants from different confectionery matrices in particular non-fat based. The results should be linked to human-sensory studies in order to understand opportunities and limitations of the analytical approaches. The impact of various recipe modifications as well as the impact of inclusions into the matrix on the release of odorants and tastants would be followed using the developed analytical tools. Furthermore the translation of these real-time analytical results into sensory studies would be investigated. Finally more light would be shed on the molecular mechanisms underlying flavour release. The student will gain real-world industrial research experience from the collaboration between Nottingham and Nestlé as part of a wider effort to enlarge the range of recipe and inclusion parameters enabling healthier products with desirable sensory characteristics.