0000000000099236
AUTHOR
Boriana Atanasova
Use of téflon bags to deliver constant concentrations of odorous compounds
National audience
Qualitative and quantitative study of the mixture of two odorous compounds of wine
National audience
Wine bouquet: the perceptual integration of chemical complexity
Although hundreds of chemical compounds have been identified in grapes and wine, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that only a small fraction of these compounds in reality contribute to the flavor of wine. These compounds have the ability to activate at least one of the chemical senses located in the mouth and in the nose. Even if the actual number of flavor compounds is reduced, when compared to wine chemical complexity, the mixture of stimuli is transformed into a mixture of sensory signals that is integrated all along the sensory pathways to give rise to the wine’s bouquet. During this integration process, perceptual interactions, within and between senses, are likely to occur [1]. Bei…
Perceptual interactions between fruity and woody notes of wine
The quantitative olfactory interactions in three binary mixtures of wine aroma compounds were studied. For the first two mixtures, whisky lactone (woody note) was mixed separately with two esters (fruity note), ethyl butyrate and isoamyl acetate. For the third mixture, guaiacol (woody note) was mixed with ethyl butyrate (fruity note). Perceived odour intensity of 24 stimuli (four supra-threshold concentration levels of two compounds and the respective 16 mixtures) were evaluated in five replications, by a trained panel of 13 subjects. The results showed that for the three binary mixtures studied, quantitative perceptual interactions were non-level independent, non-symmetrical, and reached t…
Impact of ethanol on the perception of wine odorant mixtures
International audience; Several studies have focused on perceptual interactions in binary odor mixtures, but few on more complex mixtures. The aroma of wine is an example of a complex odor mixture. Our aim was to assess the impact of ethanol on the perception of mixtures of Woody (whiskey lactone) and Fruity (isoamyl acetate) odorants commonly found, physico-chemically and perceptually, in wine. Physico-chemically, reduced whiskey lactone volatility was observed in hydro-alcoholic solutions. Perceptually, a synergy effect by the Woody on the Fruity odor was observed in aqueous solutions, which disappeared with the addition of ethanol. Conversely, the Woody odor was masked in both aqueous an…
Functional characterization of two human olfactory receptors expressed in the baculovirus Sf9 insect cell system
Olfactory receptors (ORs) are the largest member of the G-protein-coupled receptors which mediate early olfactory perception in discriminating among thousands of odorant molecules. Assigning odorous ligands to ORs is a prerequisite to gaining an understanding of the mechanisms of odorant recognition. The functional expression of ORs represents a critical step in addressing this issue. Due to limitations in heterologous expression, very few mammal ORs have been characterized, and so far only one is from human origin. Consequently, OR function still remains poorly understood, especially in humans, whose genome encodes a restricted chemosensory repertoire compared with most mammal species. In …
The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures
International audience; Smelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics). Such processing allows for the instantaneous recognition and categorization of smells and also for the discrimination of odors among others to extract relevant information and to adapt efficiently in different contexts. The neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning this highly efficient analysis of complex mixtures of odorants is beginning to be unraveled and support the idea that olfaction, as vision and au…
Interactions of odorants with olfactory receptors and receptor neurons match the perceptual dynamics observed for woody and fruity odorant mixtures
The present study aimed to create a direct bridge between observations on peripheral and central responses to odorant mixtures and their components. Three experiments were performed using mixtures of fruity (isoamyl acetate; ISO) and woody (whiskey lactone; WL) odorants known to contribute to some of the major notes in Burgundy red wine. These experiments consisted of (i) calcium imaging of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293T) transfected with olfactory receptors (ORs); (ii) single-unit electrophysiological recordings from olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and analyses of electro-olfactogram (EOG) responses in the rat nose in vivo; and (iii) psychophysical measurements of the perceived in…
Perception of wine fruity and woody notes : influence of peri- threshold odorants
International audience
Binary models of an odour masking effect in wine
International audience
Evaluation of olfactory intensity : comparative study of two methods
Two experimental procedures recommended for the evaluation of the psychophysical characteristics of odorous compounds, olfactory matching with the 1-butanol scale and cross-modality matching with the finger span are compared. The intensity of ethyl butyrate and guaiacol solutions presented at four different concentration levels was evaluated by a panel of sixteen subjects over five repetitions using the two methods. Each stimulus was delivered to the subject from a Teflon bag through a nose-shaped glass sniffing port. The discrimination ability, repeatability, panel homogeneity and within-subject variability of the methods were assessed. Results indicate that with both methods, subjects wer…