OUP accepted manuscript

Carbohydrate Oral Rinsing, Cycling Performance and Individual Complex Carbohydrate Taste Sensitivity

The aim of this pilot study was to determine the effect of individual complex carbohydrate taste sensitivity on cycling performance with complex carbohydrate oral rinsing. Ten male participants completed five cycling time trials in a fasted state with a seven-day washout period between each trial. Participants completed a fixed amount of work (738.45 ± 150.74 kJ) as fast as possible on a cycle ergometer while rinsing with an oral rinse for 10 s every 12.5% of the trial. An oral rinse (maltodextrin, oligofructose, glucose, sucralose or water control) was given per visit in a randomised, crossover, blinded design. Afterwards, participants had their taste assessed with three stimuli, complex carbohydrate (maltodextrin), sweet (glucose) and sour (citric acid), using taste assessment protocol to determine individual taste sensitivity status. Participants were subsequently grouped according to their complex carbohydrate taste sensitivity and complex carbohydrate taste intensity. There were no significant effects of the oral rinses on cycling performance time (p = 0.173). Participants who did not have improvements in exercise performance with the maltodextrin rinse experienced a stronger taste intensity with complex carbohydrate stimuli at baseline (p = 0.047) and overall (p = 0.047) than those who did have improvements in performance. Overall, a carbohydrate oral rinse was ineffective in significantly improving cycling performance in comparison with a water control. However, when participants were grouped according to complex carbohydrate taste intensity, differences in exercise performance suggest that individual sensitivity status to complex carbohydrates could impact the efficacy of a carbohydrate-based oral rinse.

The flavor-enhancing action of glutamate and its mechanism involving the notion of kokumi

The sodium salt of glutamic acid, or monosodium glutamate (MSG), has two effects in foods: one is to induce a unique taste called umami, which is one of the five basic tastes, and the other is to make food palatable (i.e., flavor-enhancing or seasoning effects). However, the mechanism behind how MSG makes food more palatable remains poorly understood, although many food scientists seem to believe that the umami taste itself plays an important role. Here, we propose an alternative notion regarding this topic based on previous and recent studies. When added to complex food compositions, MSG facilitates the binding of existing kokumi substances to kokumi receptors. In turn, these bound kokumi substances enhance the intensity of umami, sweet, salty, and fatty tastes, resulting in increased palatability accompanied by kokumi flavor, such as thickness, mouthfulness, and continuity. The requisite for sufficient palatability and kokumi flavor is a good balance of umami and kokumi substances. This framework gives a scientifically useful background for providing newly developed foods, including cultured meat and plant-based meat substitutes, with good taste characteristics.

Glutamate-Sodium Discrimination Status in Adults Is Associated with Salt Recognition Threshold and Habitual Intake of Discretionary Food and Meat: A Cross-Sectional Study

Umami non-discriminators (NDs) are a sub-group of the population with a reduced ability to discriminate between monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sodium chloride (NaCl) compared to umami discriminators (UDs). No research has investigated umami and salty taste perception associations across detection threshold (DT), recognition threshold (RT), and suprathreshold intensity perception (ST) or the habitual dietary intake of ND. Adults (n = 61, mean age of 30 ± 8 years, n = 40 females) completed taste assessments measuring their DT, RT, and ST for salty, umami (MSG and monopotassium glutamate (MPG)), and sweet tastes. To determine the umami discrimination status, participants completed 24 triangle tests containing 29 mM NaCl and 29 mM MSG, and those with ≥13 correct identifications were considered UDs. Habitual dietary intake was recorded via a food frequency questionnaire. NDs made up 14.8% (n = 9) of the study population, and UDs made up 85.2% (n = 52). NDs were less sensitive to salt at RT (mean step difference: -1.58, p = 0.03), and they consumed more servings of meat and poultry daily (1.3 vs. 0.6 serves, p = 0.006); fewer servings of discretionary food (1.6 vs. 2.4, p = 0.001); and, of these, fewer salty discretionary foods (0.9 vs. 1.3, p = 0.003) than NDs. Identifying these NDs may provide insight into a population at risk of the overconsumption of discretionary foods and reduced intake of protein-rich meat foods.