Gerald Reinders

Structure-activity relationships of trigeminal effects for artificial and naturally occurring alkamides related to spilanthol

Twenty six variations of the structure of spilanthol ((E,E,Z)-2,6,8-decatrienoic acid N-isobutylamide) were synthesised starting from the appropriate unsaturated acids by amidation with simple aliphatic amines. The resulting alkamides were evaluated for their trigeminal sensory properties (burning, pungency, tingling, scratching, numbing, warming, mouth-watering, cooling). Spilanthol was the most active tingling and mouth-watering compound. trans-Pellitorine ((E,E)-2,4-decadienoic acid N-isobutylamide) showed mainly the same mouth-watering activity without the strong tingling effect. All other structural variations led to lower intensity of the trigeminal activity.

Methods for artificial perception : Can machine replace man?

Summary The previous ‘Scandinavian’ Weurman Flavour Symposium held in Oslo, Norway, in 1987 had as the main themes chemistry, biotechnology, sensory science and data analysis in flavour research [1]. Since then, many advances have been made, however, when comparing with the Weurman Symposium in 2005, the subject areas and topics of research have not changed very much. Flavour scientists still work with identification of aroma and taste components in foods, their formation, stability and release as well as sensory and data analytical aspects. The knowledge about flavour components in foods and the understanding of the way we perceive them has though considerably expanded. Advances have also been made in the way one can analyse flavours in foods and beverages, and measure responses from and in human subjects. One can say that the toolbox with methods and techniques for flavour analysis has expanded remarkably offering many new possibilities to understand flavour from different perspectives and levels of details. The workshop presented some state-of-the-art applications of modern in vivo and in vitro flavour analysis as well as visual sensory assessments of meals made by machines equipped with sensors and artificial networks processing capability. Also, new ways of studying multisensory processes by stimulating sensory subjects with defined stimuli were discussed. Intelligent ‘artificial perception’ systems may replace some routine sensory analysis and monotonous production tasks in the future, but the development of such systems still require sensory assessments by humans.