The physical and psychophysical

effects of umami and kokumi

compounds on the actual and
perceived thickness of model
liquid foods
MSc thesis by Oscar Jan Hoogland
Supervised by Elke Scholten
  Aim

 Background

 Materials & Methods

 Results & Conclusions

 Discussion & Recommendations

Aim
“ Gain understanding of the
influence of glutamates and
ribonucleotides on both
physical attributes and on
the sensory perception of
liquid foods. “
 Does the addition of glutamates and ribonucleotides influence
the viscous behaviour of model vegetable stock?
 Does the addition of glutamates and ribonucleotides influence
the lubrication behaviour of model vegetable stock?
 Do untrained sensory panellists distinguish a difference in
perceived thickness or mouthfeel of the model vegetable
stock?
  Sodium Chloride is the second most used additive in
food production
 Overconsumption of sodium leads to hypertension &
Background cardiovascular disease
 Recommended daily intake sodium: 2g (WHO, 2012),
actual intake 10-35 times higher
Salt replacement
 Sodium intake needs to be reduced, need for
alternatives to solve the decrease in palatability
  Salt replacers: replacing Sodium with e.g. Potassium,
Calcium or Magnesium – yield metallic and/or bitter off-
tastes
 Salt enhancers: increase the intensity of salt, lowering
thresholds, reduce blandness – herbs & spices, umami
Background flavour compounds

Salt replacement
 Umami flavour compounds improve palatability
- lower threshold for sodium chloride
- Add extra flavour layer
- Increase ‘ mouthfulness’, richness or thickness– “Kokumi”
 “Umami”
 Fifth basic taste (besides salt, sweet, sour & bitter)
 Discovered in 1908 by Japanese scientist
 Taste sensation elicited by glutamic acid,
inosine-5’-monophosphate (IMP), guanosine-5’-
Background monophosphate (GMP) and adenine-5’-monophosphate
(AMP)
 Naturally occurring in protein-rich foods:
Umami Meat, soy, ripened cheese, shellfish, mushrooms, tomato, etc.
A B C

Molecular representations of A) glutamic acid, B) monosodium

glutamate (MSG) & C) guanosine-5'-monophosphate (GMP)
 “Kokumi”
 Etymology
From Japanese.
 Noun
A taste, recognised by some Japanese researchers,
associated with certain γ-L-glutamyl peptides which
activate a calcium-sensing receptor also sensitive
Background to glutathione.
 Synonyms
(taste): heartiness, mouthfulness
Kokumi
 Is said to fortify the flavours of liquids, yielding
potential to improve richness and mouthfeel of low-salt
products

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kokumi
 16 model vegetable stocks enriched
with combination of sodium chloride
Materials & (0 g L-1, 2 g L-1, 5 g L-1 & 10 g L-1)
Methods and mushroom concentrate (MC)
(0 g L-1, 1 g L-1, 2 g L-1 & 5 g L-1)
vegetable stocks
Carrot 500 ± 0.03 g 0.0% 0.2% 0.5% 1.0%
Onion 500 ± 0.03 g NaCl NaCl NaCl NaCl
0.0%
Leek 500 ± 0.03 g S1 S5 S9 S13
MC
Celeriac 500 ± 0.03 g 0.1%
Fennel 250 ± 0.03 g S2 S6 S10 S14
MC
Garlic 100 ± 0.03 g 0.2%
S3 S7 S11 S15
Tomato paste 50 ± 0.03 g MC
0.5%
Demineralised water 5000 ± 5 ml S4 S8 S12 S16
MC
  Analysis of viscosity using Ubbelohde Capillary Viscometer
Materials & 55oC, (density with Anton Paar density meter)
Methods
Viscosity  Analysis of lubrication using Anton Paar tribology setup
Normal force 1N, 55oC, 1-1000 s-1
Lubrication

Sensory attributes
 Sensory analysis with untrained panelists
Three attributes: Saltiness, Thickness & Flavour Richness
Unanchored 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale
 Analysis of viscosity

 Differences in the viscosities are very small

(all viscosities between 0.57 and 0.67 mPa•s)
MiliQ = 0,53 mPa•s

 Differences smaller than Weber fraction (K= 0.26),

Results & so expected to be not noticeable in sensory analysis
Conclusions
 Viscosity of samples seems to correlate with NaCl
Viscosity concentration

 171 mM NaCl (1 g L-1) seems to limit viscosity

electrostatic interactions between polysaccharides (-)
and Na+-ions
 Analysis of viscosity
0,7

0,68

0,66

0,64

dynamic viscosity [mPas]

0,62

Results & 0,6

Conclusions 0,58

0,56

Viscosity
0,54

0,52

0,5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
NaCl Concentration [mM]

Dynamic viscosity as function of NaCl concentration. The diamonds refer to the

solution with 0 g L-1 MC, the squares refer to 1 g L-1 MC, the triangles to 2 g L-1 MC
and the spheres to 5 g L-1 MC
 Analysis of lubrication

 No significant differences in lubricating behaviour

of vegetable stocks with 0 g L-1, 1 g L-1, 2 g L-1 & 5 g L-1
mushroom concentrate

Results &  Significant differences in MiliQ with 5 g L-1, 10 g L-1, 20 g L-1 ,

50 g L-1, 100 g L-1 & 200 g L-1
Conclusions
 Differences caused by differences in viscosity, influencing
Lubrication film thickness

 At high entrainment speeds, small differences in viscosity

have little effect on film thickness, so very similar
lubrication
 Analysis of lubrication

Friction Coefficient [dimensionless]

Results &
Conclusions 0,1

Lubrication

0,01
0,1 1 10 100 1000
entrainment speed [mm s-1]
Friction coefficients of four samples with 0 mM NaCl as function of
entrainment speed. Spheres refer to 0 g L-1 MC, triangles to 1 g L-1 MC, crosses
to 2 g L-1 MC & squares to 5 g L-1 MC.
 Analysis of lubrication

Friction Coefficient [dimensionless]

Results &
Conclusions 0,1

Lubrication

0,01
0,1 1 10 100 1000
entrainment speed [mm s-1]

Friction coefficients of MiliQ solutions with mushroom concentrate as function of

entrainment speed. Diamonds refer to 5 g L-1 MC, squares to 10 g L-1 MC,
triangles to 20 g L-1 MC, crosses to 50 g L-1 MC, stripes to 100 g L-1 MC & spheres
to 200 g L-1 MC.
 Sensory analysis

 Saltiness perception strongly increases with increasing

Results & NaCl concentration
Conclusions
 Saltiness perception slightly increases with increasing
Saltiness perception mushroom concentrate concentration
 Sensory analysis
10

Average Saltiness rating

6

Results & 5

Conclusions 4

Saltiness perception 2

0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5
MC concentration [g L-1]

Average saltiness ratings of vegetable stocks as function of mushroom concentrate

concentration. Diamonds refer to samples with 0 mM NaCl, squares to samples with 34 mM
NaCl, triangles to samples with 86 mM NaCl and spheres to samples with 171 mM NaCl.
 Sensory analysis

 Flavour Richness perception increases with increasing

Results & NaCl concentration (R2 = 0.81)

Conclusions
 Flavour Richness perception slightly increases with
mushroom concentrate concentration
Flavour Richness (R2 = 0.34)
perception
 Sensory analysis

Results &
Conclusions
Flavour Richness
perception

Average ratings given for the attribute "flavour richness" sorted

by mushroom concentrate concentrations
 10
Sensory analysis
9

Average flavour richness rating [0-10]

7

Results & 6

Conclusions 4

3
Flavour Richness
perception 2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
MC concentration [g L-1]

Average richness ratings of as function of mushroom concentrate

concentration. Diamonds refer to samples with 0 mM NaCl, squares to samples
with 34 mM NaCl, triangles to samples with 86 mM NaCl & spheres to samples
with 171 mM NaCl as function of mushroom concentrate concentration
 Sensory analysis

 Distribution of thickness ratings is randomly distributed

 No correlation between thickness perception and

viscosity could be found in line with expectations
Results &
Conclusions  No correlation between thickness perception and
lubrication could be found
Thickness perception
 No correlation between thickness perception and
mushroom concentrate concentration
 Sensory analysis
Average ratings given for the attribute “thickness” and standard deviations

average rating average rating

thickness (0-10) σ thickness (0-10) σ
S1 2,0 2,1 S9 4,6 2,0
S2 2,6 2,1 S10 4,6 1,8
Results & S3
S4
3,1
3,8
2,3
2,5
S11
S12
5,5
4,4
1,4
1,6
Conclusions S5 4,2 2,1 S13 4,9 1,9
S6 2,5 1,8 S14 5,0 2,6
S7 4,0 1,5 S15 4,9 1,9
Thickness perception S8 5,1 2,3 S16 3,6 1,9
 10

Average rating thicknees [0-10]

6

Results & 5

Conclusions 4

Thickness perception 2

0
0,5 0,52 0,54 0,56 0,58 0,6 0,62 0,64 0,66 0,68
Dynamic Viscosity [mPa•s]

Average thickness ratings of as function of dynamic viscosity. Diamonds refer to

samples with 0 g L-1 MC, squares to samples with 1 g L-1 MC, crosses to samples
with 2 g L-1 MC & triangles to samples with 5 g L-1 MC.
 10

average thickness perception [0-10]

7

Results & 5

Conclusions 4

Thickness perception 2

0
0,40 0,45 0,50 0,55 0,60 0,65
friction coefficient [dimensionless]

Average thickness ratings as function of the friction coefficient. diamonds refer to

samples with 0 g L-1 MC, crosses to samples with 1 g L-1 MC, triangles to samples
with 2 g L-1MC & squares to samples with 5 g L-1 MC.
 Sensory analysis
10

average rating thickness [0-10]

Results & 6

Conclusions
5

Thickness perception 3

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
MC concentration [g L-1]

Average thickness ratings as function of mushroom concentrate concentration.

Diamonds refer to samples with 0 mM NaCl, squares refer to samples with 34 mM
NaCl, triangles to samples with 86 mM NaCl & spheres to samples with 171 mM NaCl.
 Conclusions to research questions
 The addition of glutamates and ribonucleotides does not
significantly alter the viscous behavior of the model
vegetable stock

Results &  the addition of glutamates and ribonucleotides does not

Conclusions significantly alter the lubrication behaviour of the model
vegetable stock

 Untrained sensory panellists can not distinguish a

difference in perceived thickness or mouthfeel of the model
vegetable stock
  Future research should focus on:
- Model systems with higher viscosities
- Larger differences in viscosities
Discussion &
- Larger differences in umami flavour compound amounts
Recommendations
- Difference testing instead of attribute scaling
- Trained panelists