Saliva bubbles: How saliva foam impacts aroma release and retronasal perception during oral processing
Saliva foam can be easily formed upon different oral movement, but the impact of saliva foam on aroma release and perception is less investigated. Recruited subjects were asked to chew mint-flavor gums to mimic saliva foam generation. During gum-chewing, i.) subjects' retronasal release and dynamic perception of menthol and ii) their salivary bubble number and size, were continuously monitored. In the ‘normal series’ of experiments, bubbles were generated by the oral behavior of mastication; and in the ‘defoamed series’ of experiments, a defoaming agent was simultaneously added to eliminate the bubble effect during mastication. A continuous formation and collapse of saliva bubbles in the normal group led to a stable higher release of menthol in subjects' exhalation and significantly higher mint flavor perception ( p < 0.05). In the defoamed series, saliva bubble numbers were reduced drastically (1–2 orders of magnitude) and more menthol was retained in saliva, which further affected subjects' intensity perception. Multiple physiological factors including salivary protein concentration, viscosity and surface tension contributed to the individual sensory perception variations, and no single parameter could explain the exact relationship between aroma release and retronasal perception. This study provided insights on the aroma delivery in food matrix design and development.
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）