Taste
Nutritional supplements often feature unappetising taste sensations. This taste defect presents a major hurdle to consumer acceptance of products with fizzy properties, particularly with regards to water-soluble vitamins, minerals or plant extracts that do not share desirable taste characteristics with end users.
These undesirable flavors can usually be concealed using specific flavorings; however, in order to develop effective masking strategies it is crucial to understand the taste characteristics of these compounds.
Quantitative sensory analysis allows for the identification of key tasting attributes found in these dietary supplements. QDA results obtained for galenic forms CN1-CN4 indicate they typically feature both sourness during tasting and sweetness shortly after completion of oral process.
Bitter aftertaste was an important finding of all four supplements; particularly with CN2. The reduced intensity observed in other three supplements could be explained by their incorporation of water-soluble vitamin analogues such as thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin phosphate and nicotinamide.
Astringency
Astringency refers to a dry, puckery sensation caused by certain tea, wine and fruit and herb varieties as well as immature bananas as well as grape seed/skin extracts. Astringency is felt as a dry rough feeling in the mouth that causes tongue tissue contraction; unlike bitterness it does not involve binding of proteins or glycoproteins with phenolic compounds.
Astringency is caused by direct stimulation of trigeminal touch receptors, most effectively with oxidized epigallocatechin gallate – a flavonoid tannin with one to several galic acid moieties – as well as G-protein receptors in the trigeminal nerve, producing sensations similar to gustatory activation. Astringency typically manifests slowly within 15s after consumption of tannic acid and gradually fades thereafter – unlike bitterness which typically hits harder.
Bitterness
Bitterness is a key feature of many functional foods and beverages, including dark leafy greens, bitter melon, kale, cocoa, tonic water, and yerba mate. Unfortunately, certain consumers may be sensitive to certain bitter compounds present in supplements; luckily new bitter blockers exist to improve bitterness without altering active ingredients and potentially help increase supplement compliance and product efficacy.
Cell-based assays used in this study reveal bitterness detection thresholds for vitamins B1 (thiamine hydrochloride) and B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), but fat-soluble vitamins A and D fail to activate TAS2Rs due to lack of dose-response curves that characterized water-soluble vitamins.
As flavors continue to redefine the role of supplements in society, their flavor profiles are quickly evolving from behind-the-scenes essentials to an integral component of innovation, consumer engagement and brand value. From receptor-level bitter blockers and mouthfeel modification tools to multilayered flavor architecture strategies – flavor optimization technologies like these elevate supplement flavor performance for improved sensory experiences and greater product acceptance.
Metallicity
Metallicity is the ratio of metals to hydrogen found in stars or nebulae. A star’s metallicity can be estimated from its iron content since this can be easily detected spectroscopically; molecular gases such as CO and N2 can help infer its metallicity inferrable from molecular gases like these. Definitions for what makes a material metallic differ widely depending on where one’s viewing from; one notable rule of thumb applies at absolute zero: band structure as function of wave vector k parallel to surface band structure as function of wave vector k parallel to surface band structure as described herein.
Tasty Gains supplements are manufactured in the US and regularly third-party lab tested to ensure purity! Furthermore, our 100% vegan products do not contain any animal by-products or hormones – perfect for vegan lifestyles!
