How do flavors and fragrances affect our health?
The most recent "TUM@Freising" lecture in the Lindenkeller addressed this question.
Freising
– There were exciting findings from scent and taste research on Thursday as part of the lecture series “TUM@Freising – Science explained for everyone”.
The TUM professor and director of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, Veronika Somoza, explained the great importance of the sense of smell and taste in our lives.
The numerous listeners in the upper house of the Lindenkeller also received tips for health at the lecture entitled "Flavorings in our food - more than just smell and taste".
Millions of olfactory cells on the nasal mucosa
For example, who knew that there are only five types of taste that the tongue perceives?
Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and "umami" (Japanese: savory, savory).
All other aromatic substances are developed through the nose.
Many millions of olfactory cells with olfactory receptors are located on the nasal mucosa, the professor explained.
If an aroma substance docks, the information is passed on to the brain in the form of an electrical impulse.
Somoza said that those who had been infected with Corona in recent years could certainly tell you how important the sense of smell and taste is.
Flavorings are created, for example, during the processing and preparation of food, steaming, steaming, roasting, baking or grilling.
Babies can absorb smells far more intensively than adults.
Why?
Because babies breathe more often.
Therefore, it is also advised to wear odorless clothing in the weeks after the birth.
Bitter flavors release the satiety hormone
At the institute on Lise-Meitner-Strasse, researchers are investigating what flavorings are, how they affect the body and what role they play in the manufacture of medicines, explained the head of the institute.
Most people find the bitter taste in many medicines unpleasant.
This negative perception of taste protects people from certain substances which, if taken in large quantities, can be toxic.
On the other hand, bitter flavorings can influence satiety, i.e. they can be used as “helpers” to maintain a healthy body weight.
This was found out in special experiments, the scientist explained.
The bitter taste in food was achieved in test subjects by adding a small dose of the chemical compound quinine.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
The result of the test: Bitter flavors increase the release of the satiety hormone cholecystokinin.
This effect has also been demonstrated in international studies for foods containing chili powder, as Somoza emphasized.
On the other hand, when granulated sugar is taken in conjunction with lactose, the energy intake is increased and you get more appetite.
This was also proven in a special test.
What works in the nose and mouth, does this also apply to other parts of the body?
A team led by biologist and physician Hanns Hatt tried to prove how scents affect sperm more than 20 years ago.
Like floating “olfactory cells” in the fallopian tube, sperm follow a “scent trail” that emanates from the egg cell.
The researchers found out that it smelled like lily of the valley.
However, the "lily of the valley phenomenon" has not yet been proven, according to Somoza.
Mary Martin
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
