Piperine’s impact on sensory perception in different food matrices (liquid and solid)

Cross-modal interactions of chemical irritants are of interest to the food industry, especially if they can increase saltiness perception. Piperine’s (the primary alkaloid found in black pepper) cross-modal interactions and influence on sensory perception needs to be further explored. As such, the objective of the study was to add piperine at both the detection threshold (0.55 ppm), and below detection threshold (0.50 ppm), to three different food matrices (curried rice, tofu, and tomato soup). Participants (n = 95) evaluated the different food items using hedonic scales (nine-point) and intensity scales (15 cm). The piperine addition at detection threshold increased the participants' liking of the flavour, texture, and overall liking of the curried rice when compared to piperine added below detection. The different concentrations of piperine did not impact the liking of the other food items. The food matrices impacted the perception of spiciness, but did not impact the taste intensities. However, the taste intensities were impacted by the different concentrations of piperine. Piperine at detection threshold increased the saltiness perception of the tomato soup and tofu, as well as the bitterness of the curried rice and tomato soup. Furthermore, the participants were categorized based on spicy food consumption, and although it did not impact overall liking, infrequent consumers (n = 36) scored the foods with piperine added at detection threshold higher for spiciness than frequent consumers (n = 59). More studies are needed to assess piperine’s cross-modal interactions and to specifically identify how piperine's cross-modal interactions are impacted by different components of food (e.g. fat, starch, etc.).