A quick review from previous lecture:

Five Basic Tastes

0 Taste is the sensation produced when a substance in the mouth reacts
chemically with receptors of taste buds. We are eating
0 Taste buds are chemical sensors chemicals?
0 Sensation of taste can be categorized into five basic tastes

Sweet
We briefed
discussed
Umami about Sour
sweet in
our
previous
lecture

Salty Bitter 2
 We are eating
chemicals?

Food is made up of molecules

0 Simple Molecules

3
Food is made up of molecules
0 Food Molecules (Large Molecules)

Fat

Amino acids

4
Carbohydrate
Food is made up of molecules
(Polymers)

Networks

5
Quick Review from
previous lecture:
Sucrose = Table Sugar
It is a Disaccharide
0 Chemical Formula: C11H22O11
0 Made of two mono-saccharides joined together (glucose +
fructose)

Glucose Fructose

Sucrose 6
 Free Sugars
Monosaccharide Disaccharide

Glucose Fructose Sucrose

Free sugars refer to monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and
disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) added to foods and drinks
by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in
honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.
 Free Sugars
0 Sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars
naturally present in milk are NOT free sugar
Free Sugars NOT free sugar
1g of sugar contains 3.87
kilocalories (kcal)
 In March 2015, WHO Recommended a
Further Reduction of Free Sugar Intake to
below 5% total energy intake
0 Assume a 2000 kcal daily intake,
0 5% = 100 kcal
0 Equals to how many grams of sugar?

5g

In-class activity: Which types of foods or beverages do you most often

eliminate to reduce the amount of sugars you consume?

Go to www.menti.com and use the code 70 00 8

Additional Information About Sugars in Drinks
0 Food/beverage containing a lot of sugar are not necessarily
sweet
0 http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/files/SugarsPB_Result
s_Eng.pdf
 Why Do We Use Sugar?
0 Adds sweet taste
0 Uses to prolong or extend food shelf life
0 Preserves jams and jellies
0 Increases volume in baked goods and enhances
smoothness of ice-cream
0 Caramelizes under heat
Two Types of Sweeteners

0 Nutritive sweeteners
0 Contain calories

0 Non-nutritive sweeteners (high intensity

sweetener)
0 Contain little or no calories
 In-class activity:
Other than “Sugar”, what
is/are free sugars from the
ingredients of Chips ahoy?
 Nutritive Sweeteners:
Sugars
0 Glucose (simplest form)
0 Sucrose (Table Sugar) from beet or cane sugar
0 Fructose from honey & fruit
0 Lactose from milk
0 Maltose All are equivalent in
0 Honey
0 Corn syrup
calories: about 4
0 High fructose corn syrup kcal per gram
0 Brown sugar
 Sugar alcohols/Polyols
0 Nutritive sweeteners
0 Provide an average of 2 kcal/gram (range from 1.5
kcal/gram to 3 kcal/gram
0 Used in many “sugar-free,” “low-carb,” and reduced
calorie products
0 gum, candy, desserts, ice-cream and syrup
0 Example of sugar alcohols: Xylitol (木糖醇), Sorbitol (
山梨糖醇), Mannitol (甘露糖醇)
 Xylitol 木糖醇
0 1g of xylitol = 2.4 kcal; 1 g of sugar ~ 4 kcal
0 ~ 1/3 less in energy value
0 Not broken down by bacteria  i.e. not metabolized
to acids  do not contribute to tooth decay
Non-nutritive sweeteners
0 Also called artificial sweeteners
0 Intense sweetness
0 Offer no nutritional benefits and they are low or
have no calories

20
 Aspartame

Acesulfame Potassium

21
Non-nutritive sweeteners

Acesulfame K Saccharin ~200–700 X

~200 – 300 X

Sodium N-cyclohexylsulfamate
~30-80 X

Aspartame Neotame
~180-250 X ~7000-13000X
22
Sucralose ~700-100X
 Story of Aspartame
0 Discovered by Mr. James
Schlatter in 1965
0 Synthesized aspartame
as an intermediate step
in an anti-ulcer drug
candidate
0 Accidentally discovered
its sweet taste when he
licked his finger

23
 Non-nutritive Sweeteners Info

http://www.cfs.gov.hk/tc_chi/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_08_02.
html
How Sweet Can We Make?
Sour
 An Acid is a Molecule that
Release a Hydrogen Ion
0 Citric acid gives up the hydrogen ion, H+ The hydrogen
ion H+ is taken up by the water, H2O, giving us an H3O+
(hydronium ion)
H2O

Citric Acid
 How Strong an Acid is a Measure of How
Easily an Acid Gives Up That Hydrogen Ion
H3O+

0 Citric acid does not give up the hydrogen ion as easily

as sulfuric acid, which we use in car batteries
 Sour compounds are acidic in nature. So
how to measure how acidic it is?
O pH
O Measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous
solution

29
Each pH Value is a Factor of
10 Difference
 Sour

Tartaric Acid

Citric Acid
31
 Sour
Acetic Acid (Ethanoic acid)

HCl Hydrochloric Acid (A component of gastric acid)

32
Demonstration: How acidic coca cola
can be?

H3PO4 (Sometimes labeled as

Acid Regulator (338)
Rancidity: The sour stink of
rotten food
0 Rancidification is the
decomposition of fats, oils and
other lipids
0 One of the decomposition
products is butyric acid
0 Causes the typical rancid taste
0 Human taste buds are highly
sensitive to these acid
molecules
Butyric acid
0 Indication of spoiled
food!
34
Turing Sour to Sweet?!
How Does the Miracle Berry
Work?
0 Miracle fruit contains a protein called miraculin
0 Binds to sweet receptors on the tongue
0 Sweet receptors are activated by acids which are
related to sourness
0 Lemons taste super sweet like candy
 Salt
0 NaCl (Sodium Chloride)
0 Na+ (Sodium ion responsible for the salty
taste)
0 Salt substitute: KCl (Potassium Chloride)
Salt and sodium in your food
0 In Hong Kong, food labels only give the figure for
sodium (not the amount of salt) presence in food.
0 But there is a simple way to work out how much salt
you are eating from the sodium figure:
0 Conversion between amount of sodium and amount of
salt
0 Salt = sodium x 2.4
0 491 mg of sodium
0 => 1178 mg of salt
0 (i.e. ~1.2 g of salt)
Center for Food Safety
 Hidden Intake of Salt
Sodium: 135mg Per Slice ie. How many grams of salt?
 In-class activity:
Hidden Intake of Salt

Trade Guidelines for Reducing Sodium in Foods

http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_nifl/files/Trade_Guideline
s_for_Reducing_Sodium_in_Foods.pdf
 Umami
0 “Meaty”
0 Often known as the fifth taste
0 Associated with the amino acid (glutamic acid)
0 Mono-sodium glutamate (MSG)

Mono-sodium
Glutamic Acid glutamate (MSG)
45
 Miso
0 Preparation of miso involves soybeans, rice, salt,
water, and Aspergillus oryzae (mold cultures)
0 Enzyme break down rice’s starches into simple sugars
and proteins into its constituent amino acids
 Production of soy sauce
0 soya sauce  naturally contains MSG
Made in Hong Kong Soy Sauce
South China Morning Post 14 JUL 2018 South China Morning Post 9 JUL 2016
 In-Class Question:
Which food(s) contain(s) glutamate?
B C
A

D E

49
FREE GLUTAMATE (mg/100g)
KOMBU SEAWEED 2240
PARMIGIANO
1680
REGGIANO
NORI SEAWEED 1378
CURED HAM 337
EMMENTAL CHEESE 308
TOMATO 246
CHEDDAR CHEESE 182
SCALLOP 140
GREEN PEAS 106
ONION 51
GREEN ASPARAGUS 49
SPINACH 48
GREEN TEA EXTRACT 32
CHICKEN 22
CRAB 19
BEEF 10
POTATO 10
PORK 9 50
MSG: Can’t Live with It, Can’t Live
without It?

Energy
Protein

Total Fat

Saturated Fat
Trans Fat
Carbohydrates
Dietary Fiber
Sugars
Sodium
51
 Flavor Enhancer

E621: Monosodium glutamate

(MSG)

E635: Disodium 5'-

ribonucleotides,
A flavor enhancer which is
synergistic with glutamates in
creating the taste of umami.
Ingredients

52
 Bitterness
0 Plants produce a variety of toxic compounds
in order to protect themselves from being
eaten.
0 The ability to discern bitter tastes evolved as a
mechanism to prevent early humans from
eating poisonous plants.

53
 Genes and Bitter Taste

PTC
0 Scientist determined that there is an inherited
component that influences how we taste PTC.
0 The ability to taste PTC (or not) is conveyed by a
single gene that codes for a taste receptor on the
tongue.
0 The PTC gene, TAS2R38, was discovered in 2003.
0 On average, 75% of people can taste PTC, while 25%
cannot
 To taste or not to taste.
A question of genetics
0 The ability to taste PTC shows a dominant pattern of
inheritance.
0 A single copy of a tasting allele (T) conveys the ability to
taste PTC.
0 Non-tasters have two copies of a non-tasting allele (t).
Case 1
T T Case 2
T t
t Tt Tt T TT Tt
t Tt Tt t Tt tt

Tasters of PTC: TT and Tt; Non Tasters of PTC: tt

 To taste or not to taste.
A question of genetics
Case 1
T T
t t
Non-Taster
T T t Tt Tt
Taster
t Tt Tt
Taster Taster Taster
t T t T t T

Taster Taster
Case 2
T t
t t t T
Non-Taster
T TT Tt
t Tt tt
 Spiciness
0 Capsaicin is a small molecule that actually gives that
hot flavor from eating hot peppers
0 It’s an irritant that interacts with your touch
receptors, not your taste buds
0 Experience pain and burning sensation when touched
Can YOU Handle the HEAT?

Pure Capsaicin: 15,000,000 – 16,000, 000

US Police Pepper Spray: 5,000,000
 How to Cool Your Tongue After
Eating Spicy Food?
Iclass activity: http://hku.iclass.hk/

Water Milk Alcohol

 In-class activity
What are those smell?
 Smell
0 Small / Odor is complex chemistry
0 Various smelly substances especially those emanating from the
kitchen of every household
0 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2004 for the
discoveries of "odorant receptors and the organization of the
olfactory system"

62
63
Molecules of Smell and Flavor
Volatile (Easily Vaporized) Molecules

64
 Vanillin:
4-Hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzolaldehyde

Substitute for
vanilla in
foods and
perfumes

65
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0 Not all of the cinnamaldehyde we use comes
from nature.

the same molecule can come from the tree,

or it can be made from other chemicals
66
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0 Does cinnamaldehyde from a tree taste the
same as from a when it is made from a
chemical reaction?

67
Natural cinnamon Flavor Artificial cinnamon Flavor

Major
Component,
~90%

Single Component, 100%

Minor
Component,
~10%

68
 Food (Flavor) Pairing
Some odd combinations taste really good!

0 Coffee and garlic

0 Salmon and licorice
0 Banana and parsley
0 Oyster and passion fruit