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

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.