Advances in odor-induced sugar reduction: Mechanistic insights, substance selection, and methodology

Odor-induced sweetness and enhancement is a new promising avenue to reduce the sugar content, particularly in the face of increasing concerns about obesity and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes. This exploits the psychophysical relationship between smell and taste by using certain aromas to enhance the perception of sweetness. This sensory interaction thus could be leveraged, in which the sweetness experience may be maintained and enhanced in foods with a considerable reduction of the actual sugar content, offering a way to address health concerns without loss at the taste level. Research in current activities interrogates the neurological and physiological mechanisms involved in odor-induced sweetness enhancement. Such studies are based on the analyses of neural representations of sensory signals in the orbitofrontal cortex, a critical brain area where neural representations of olfactory and gustatory inputs converge to form a unitary perception of flavor. Another important line of research is the proper choice of substances more precisely odors, capable of causing this rise in sweetness. Researchers are working out the selection criteria for such odors as they have to be carefully chosen not only as smelling enhancers of this sweetness but also according to their matrices and acceptability by consumers.