Taste Detection Thresholds of Resveratrol

Abstract

Resveratrol is a polyphenol that is associated with numerous health benefits related to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurological function. The addition of this compound to food products would help to deliver these health benefits to the consumer. However, bitterness associated with resveratrol may impart negative sensory qualities on the food products into which resveratrol is added; thus, decreasing consumer acceptability. This concern may be resolved by encapsulating resveratrol through spray drying, an innovative processing technique. The objectives of this research were to (1) compare taste detection thresholds of unencapsulated resveratrol and encapsulated resveratrol and (2) determine if the inclusion of anhydrous milk fat in the formulation of the encapsulation wall material affects the taste detection threshold of resveratrol within the microcapsules. Resveratrol microcapsules were produced by encapsulating resveratrol in a protein matrix through spray drying. R-index measure by the rating method was used to determine the average taste detection threshold and the pooled group taste detection threshold. The average and pooled group taste detection thresholds of unencapsulated resveratrol, sodium-caseinate-based resveratrol microcapsule without fat (SC), and sodium-caseinate-based resveratrol microcapsule with fat (SCAMF) were 90 and 47 mg resveratrol/L (unencapsulated), 313 and 103 mg resveratrol/L (SC), 334 and 108 mg resveratrol/L (SCAMF), respectively. The findings demonstrate that the encapsulation of resveratrol decreased the detection of the compound and provided a means to incorporate resveratrol into food products without imparting negative sensory properties.

Dietary Resveratrol Does Not Affect Life Span, Body Composition, Stress Response, and Longevity-Related Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Several studies in lemurs, mice, honey bees, and humans suggest that resveratrol may affect food intake due to its bitter taste [ 65 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ], which may in turn affect stress response and metabolism. However, in the current fly study, we did not observe significant differences in feed intake between groups ( Figure 1 ).…”

Resveratrol—Potential Antibacterial Agent against Foodborne Pathogens

“…Gaudette and Pickering ( 2011 ) reported an increase in the perception of bitterness with increasing concentrations of resveratrol added to wine. To minimize the effect of resveratrol on the organoleptic properties of the food, techniques such as encapsulation of resveratrol by spray-drying was suggested by Koga et al ( 2015 ) to reduce the perception of bitterness. They reported a higher taste detection threshold for resveratrol (313 μg/mL) encapsulated with sodium caseinate than unencapsulated resveratrol (90 μg/mL) in protein solution (Koga et al, 2015 ).…”

“…To minimize the effect of resveratrol on the organoleptic properties of the food, techniques such as encapsulation of resveratrol by spray-drying was suggested by Koga et al ( 2015 ) to reduce the perception of bitterness. They reported a higher taste detection threshold for resveratrol (313 μg/mL) encapsulated with sodium caseinate than unencapsulated resveratrol (90 μg/mL) in protein solution (Koga et al, 2015 ). To date, studies on the sensory evaluation of resveratrol in the food system are still limited, thus further work is needed to improve the utilization of resveratrol as a food preservatives by minimizing its taste altering effect.…”

Consumer Acceptance of Bars and Gummies with Unencapsulated and Encapsulated Resveratrol

“…The results of our prior research demonstrated that resveratrol encapsulated within a sodium caseinate matrix had a significantly higher stability and higher taste detection threshold in comparison to unencapsulated resveratrol (Koga and others ). This indicated that the encapsulation within a sodium caseinate matrix provided stability and masked negative sensory attributes of resveratrol.…”