Friction forces of saliva and red wine on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces

Tribology in Nature: Inspirations for Advanced Lubrication Materials

Friction-induced energy consumption is a significant global concern, driving researchers to explore advanced lubrication materials. In nature, lubrication is vital for the life cycle of animals, plants, and humans, playing key roles in movement, predation, and decomposition. After billions of years of evolution, natural lubrication exhibits remarkable professionalism, high efficiency, durability, and intelligence, offering valuable insights for designing advanced lubrication materials. This review focuses on the lubrication mechanisms of natural organisms and significant advancements in biomimetic soft matter lubrication materials. It begins by summarizing common biological lubrication behaviors and their underlying mechanisms, followed by current design strategies for biomimetic soft matter lubrication materials. The review then outlines the development and performance of these materials based on different mechanisms and strategies. Finally, it discusses potential research directions and prospects for soft matter lubrication materials. This review will be a valuable resource for advancing research in biomimetic lubrication materials.

Wine metabolome and sensory analyses demonstrate the oenological potential of novel grapevine genotypes for sustainable viticulture in warm climates

BACKGROUND

Genetic breeding is essential to develop grapevine genotypes adapted to warm climates and resistant to pathogens. Traditionally cultivated Vitis vinifera is susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. Winemakers and consumers, however, perceive wines from non-vinifera or hybrid cultivars as inferior. In this study, sensory analyses and comprehensive metabolite profiling by targeted and untargeted approaches were used to investigate the oenological potential of wines from grapes of genotypes developed throughout four breeding cycles to improve climate adaptation, sugar contents and berry color.

RESULTS

Novel genotypes had higher yields and the wines exhibited increased contents of polyphenols, including anthocyanins. Volatile monoterpenes in the wines decreased throughout breeding cycles in the absence of selective pressure. Polyphenol contents were higher in intermediate wines, with hydroxytyrosol contents reaching up to three times reported values. Mouthfeel attributes astringency, leafy taste, flavor and body, and persistency showed significant correlation with untargeted features. Supervised model-based analyses of the metabolome effectively discriminate wines from distinct genetic origins.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, the results demonstrate the potential of novel grapevine genotypes to a more sustainable viticulture and quality wine production in warm climates. Comprehensive metabolite profiling of the wines reveals that genotype clustering is dependent on the chemical class and that traits not submitted to selective pressure are also altered by breeding. Supervised multivariate models were effective to predict the genetic origin of the wines based on the metabolic profile, indicating the potential of the technique to identify biomarkers for wines from sustainable genotypes. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Characterization of volatile compounds and sensory properties of spine grape (Vitis davidii Foex) brandies aged with different toasted wood chips

Aging is an important process for improving wine and brandy quality. In this study, the chemical characterization and sensory properties of spine grape brandies were compared after aging with various species of wood chips, including French oak (FO), American oak (AO), Mongolian oak (MO), Japanese blue oak (JO), chestnut, catalpa, and cherry. The results showed that high color intensity and significant concentrations of tannins and polyphenols were observed in the brandies aged with FO, AO, and chestnut chips. The volatile compounds, such as ethyl decanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl octanoate, methyl salicylate, (Z)-2-hexenol, and furfural, contributed to the floral, fruity, and roasted/smoky attributes of the brandies aged with FO, AO, and chestnut chips. The 1-butanol, 1-propanol, phenylethanol, phenylethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, and linalool contributed to the fruity, honey, and floral attributes of the brandies aged with JO and cherry chips. These findings are extremely useful for the production of differentiated and high-quality spine grape brandies.

Understanding frictional behavior in fascia tissues through tribological modeling and material substitution

The objective of this study is to develop a reliable tribological model to enable a more thorough investigation of the frictional behavior of fascia tissues connected to non-specific lower back pain. Several models were designed and evaluated based on their coefficient of friction, using a low-frequency, low-load reciprocating motion. The study found that two technical elastomers, layered on PDMS to simulate the fascia and underlying muscle, are suitable substitutes for biological tissue in the model. The influence of tribopair geometry was also examined, and the results showed that greater conformity of contact leads to a lower COF, regardless of the material combination used. Finally, the friction properties of HA of various molecular weights and concentrations were tested.

Pinching dynamics, extensional rheology, and stringiness of saliva substitutes

Saliva substitutes are human-made formulations extensively used in medicine, food, and pharmaceutical research to emulate human saliva's biochemical, tribological, and rheological properties. Even though extensional flows involving saliva are commonly encountered in situations such as swallowing, coughing, sneezing, licking, drooling, gleeking, and blowing spit bubbles, rheological evaluations of saliva and its substitutes in most studies rely on measured values of shear viscosity. Natural saliva possesses stringiness or spinnbarkeit, governed by extensional rheology response, which cannot be evaluated or anticipated from the knowledge of shear rheology response. In this contribution, we comprehensively examine the rheology of twelve commercially available saliva substitutes using torsional rheometry for rate-dependent shear viscosity and dripping-onto-substrate (DoS) protocols for extensional rheology characterization. Even though most formulations are marketed as having suitable rheology, only three displayed measurable viscoelasticity and strain-hardening. Still, these too, failed to emulate the viscosity reduction with the shear rate observed for saliva or match perceived stringiness. Finally, we explore the challenges in creating saliva-like formulations for dysphagia patients and opportunities for using DoS rheometry for diagnostics and designing biomimetic fluids.

Astringency and its sub-qualities: a review of astringency mechanisms and methods for measuring saliva lubrication

Astringency is an important mouthfeel attribute that influences the sensory experiences of many food and beverage products. While salivary lubricity loss and increased oral friction were previously believed to be the only astringency mechanisms, recent research has demonstrated that nontactile oral receptors can trigger astringency by responding to astringents without mechanical stimulation. Various human factors have also been identified that affect individual responses to astringents. This article presents a critical review of the key research milestones contributing to the current understanding of astringency mechanisms and the instrumental approaches used to quantify perceived astringency intensity. Although various chemical assays or physical measures mimic in-mouth processes involved in astringent mouthfeel, this review highlights how one chemical or physical approach can only provide a single measure of astringency determined by a specific mechanism. Subsequently, using a single measurement to predict astringency perception is overly idealistic. Astringency has not been quantified beyond the loss of saliva lubrication; therefore, nontactile receptor-based responses must also be explored. An important question remains about whether astringency is a single perception or involves distinct sub-qualities such as pucker, drying, and roughness. Although these sub-quality lexicons have been frequently cited, most studies currently view astringency as a single perception rather than dividing it into sub-qualities and investigating the potentially independent mechanisms of each. Addressing these knowledge gaps should be an important priority for future research.

Mouthfeel subqualities in wines: A current insight on sensory descriptors and physical-chemical markers

Astringency and more generally mouthfeel perception are relevant to the overall quality of the wine. However, their origin and description are still uncertain and are constantly updating. Additionally, the terminology related to mouthfeel properties is expansive and extremely diversified, characterized by common traditional terms as well as novel recently adopted descriptors. In this context, this review evaluated the mention frequency of astringent subqualities and other mouthfeel attributes in the scientific literature of the last decades (2000-August 17, 2022). One hundred and twenty-five scientific publications have been selected and classified based on wine typology, aim, and instrumental-sensorial methods adopted. Dry resulted as the most frequent astringent subquality (10% for red wines, 8.6% for white wines), while body-and related terms-is a common mouthfeel sensation for different wine types, although its concept is still vague. Alongside, promising analytical and instrumental techniques investigating and simulating the in-mouth properties are discussed in detail, such as rheology for the viscosity and tribology for the lubrication loss, as well as the different approaches for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the interaction between salivary proteins and astringency markers. A focus on the phenolic compounds involved in the tactile perception was conducted, with tannins being the compounds conventionally found responsible for astringency. Nevertheless, other non-tannic polyphenolic classes (i.e., flavonols, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, anthocyanin-derivative pigments) as well as chemical-physical factors and the wine matrix (i.e., polysaccharides, mannoproteins, ethanol, glycerol, and pH) can also contribute to the wine in-mouth sensory profile. An overview of mouthfeel perception, factors involved, and its vocabulary is useful for enologists and consumers.

Effects of Saignée and Bentonite Treatment on Phenolic Compounds of Marquette Red Wines

To improve the phenolic extraction and color stability of red wine made from cold-hardy grapes, two winemaking practices, saignée and bentonite, were applied separately and in combination on Marquette grapes at crushing. The effects of these winemaking strategies on Marquette wine’s basic chemical properties, monomeric and polymeric phenolic compounds were studied, as well as the development of color characteristics from crushing to 5 months of aging. The saignée (9% juice run-off) treatment showed little impact on the phenolic content of the finished wine, but showed an increase in color intensity. A hue shift towards an orange-yellow tone was observed in the bentonite-treated wines, which was associated with a loss of monomeric anthocyanins. The combination of saignée and bentonite showed less impact on removing anthocyanins and wine color, and increased phenolics content, therefore improving the extraction of non-anthocyanins monomeric phenolics. Although this combination treatment led to the highest concentration of tannin content after pressing, this difference between the control and other treatments disappeared over time. These results suggested that the interactions between tannins and other wine compounds still occur after removing proteins in Marquette wines.

Drinking tastes of Chinese rice wine under different heating temperatures analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and tribology tests

Drinking tastes and lubrication properties of Chinese rice wine (CRW) under different heating temperatures were studied by tribology tests, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and sensory evaluations. CRW's drinking tastes were evaluated by taste panelists. Flavor compounds were detected by GC-MS. Lubrication properties of CRW were measured by tribometer. Drinking tastes changed under different heating temperatures and were the best at 60°C assessed by panelists. Four key compounds, furfural, benzaldehyde, butanedioic acid diethyl ester, and phenylethyl alcohol, were determined by GC-MS affecting drinking tastes of CRW. Their variation trends were consistent with the changes of CRW's tastes. The variation of CRW's lubrication properties had a positive correlation with that of CRW's taste, especially astringency. The lowest friction coefficient implied the best lubrication performance and taste at 60°C. Therefore, it was possible to rapidly evaluate drinking tastes of CRW using tribology technology based on the results. Reasons for temperatures influencing CRW's lubrication properties and drinking tastes were also analyzed in this study.

Exploring Olfactory-Oral Cross-Modal Interactions through Sensory and Chemical Characteristics of Italian Red Wines

This work aimed at investigating red wine olfactory–oral cross-modal interactions, and at testing their impact on the correlations between sensory and chemical variables. Seventy-four Italian red whole wines (WWs) from 10 varieties, and corresponding deodorized wines (DWs), were evaluated by sensory descriptive assessment. Total phenols, proanthocyanidins, ethanol, reducing sugars, pH, titratable and volatile acidity were determined. PCA results highlighted different sensory features of the 10 wine types. ANOVAs (p < 0.05) showed that olfactory cues might play modulation effects on the perception of in-mouth sensations with 7 (harsh, unripe, dynamic, complex, surface smoothness, sweet, and bitter) out of 10 oral descriptors significantly affected by odours. Three weak but significant positive correlations (Pearson, p < 0.0001) were statistically found and supported in a cognitive dimension: spicy and complex; dehydrated fruits and drying; vegetal and unripe. In the absence of volatiles, correlation coefficients between sensory and chemical parameters mostly increased. Proanthocyanidins correlated well with drying and dynamic astringency, showing highest coefficients (r > 0.7) in absence of olfactory–oral interactions. Unripe astringency did not correlate with polyphenols supporting the idea that this sub-quality is a multisensory feeling greatly impacted by odorants. Results support the significance of cross-modal interactions during red wine tasting, confirming previous findings and adding new insights on astringency sub-qualities and their predictive parameters.

Red Wine Dryness Perception Related to Physicochemistry

The responsibility of condensed tannins in the astringency sensation is well-known, even though the physical mechanism is unclear. The aims of the study are to go deeper into the relationships between the tannin structure and red wine dryness as well as evaluate the influence of the wine matrix and tannin concentration on the interaction with proteins and dryness perception. Condensed tannins were extracted from two red wines (cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir) and added back to them and to a model wine at 0.5 g/L, prior to chemical characterization of their composition by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography as well as their viscosity. The physical consequences of interactions between mucin, poly-l-proline, saliva, and wines were evaluated by turbidimetry. Descriptive analysis and time-intensity evaluations of dryness were carried out by a trained panel on all wines and model solutions. The mean degree of polymerization of Cabernet Sauvignon wine with or without tannins added was higher than that of Pinot Noir wine conditions. The turbidity of saliva and poly-l-proline with tannins added to Cabernet Sauvignon was higher than of tannins added to Pinot Noir wine. Cabernet Sauvignon wines were perceived dryer than Pinot Noir by panelists, and the dryness intensity of Cabernet Sauvignon wine conditions last longer than that of Pinot Noir or model wine conditions. The dryness of red wines was related to larger tannins, higher tannin concentration, and a greater turbidity with saliva. The dryness was not affected by the addition of tannins into wine probably as a result of the aroma/taste suppression effects and the presence of other components.