Power of tasting
For the last three weeks Joon has been working on a project to mask a botanical ingredient that is naturally bitter. The active ingredient is berberine, which can be found in plants such as goldenseal, and tree turmeric to name a few. Berberine has several attributes that may support in human health ranging from lowering blood sugar, aiding in weight loss, to supporting heart health. Most earthy goodies typically have offputting characteristics that make them difficult to consume. Within the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical space many different methods are developed to shield the consumer from tasting non-palatable products. These means can come in the form of encapsulation, tablets, softgels, etc. However, in recent years, the focus has shifted towards liquids, gummies, and lozenges because of demand. Companies and influencers are pushing the limits. Their focus to include many beneficial raw materials into these trending applications comes with a cost; these ingredients possess several off putting attributes. Among them are bitterness, metallic taste, burn, astringency, and chalkiness. This is one reason these rooty-earthy ingredients are sealed.
Every taster experiences unique taste perceptions or agrees with others. It depends on the consumer. Taste is a very subjective topic and people tend to associate gustation with things they have already tried. For example, when one tries a novel fruit, they will likely compare the taste to something they have eaten in the past. DNA plays a role as well. Let's take cilantro for example. It's a split between dislike and love for this herbal. This boils down to whether a person has the enzymes to breakdown cilantro. When a person doesn't have the enzyme, they will make a miserable face and say this tastes soapy.
Joon had his hands full working on this assignment and shocked his taste receptors in the process. He reached a point where he could no longer taste for the day, as if he'd reached a tasting threshold. His tongue was numb. Dude could not distinguish between sweet, salty, or some of the other receptors associated with his tongue. To make matters more tense, long after Joon completed a tasting panel, the offnotes persist and hinder Joon's ability to appreciate his home-cooked meals. During the journey, Joon learned that there were many types of bitter notes. Come to find out, there are approximately 39 bitter taste receptors aka T2RS known to exist in the human tongue. The challenging part is aside from a plethora of other tastes to mask, bitterness has a strange way to present itself. As an example, Joon experienced a burning sensation, lingering bitterness, and bitterness offnotes. Sometimes it was detected on the front, middle, or end of the tongue or a combination of all 3 locations. Joon managed to mask the bitterness for the most part by manipulating the other taste components in the gustation experience. Various tastes, such as sourness, sweetness, salt, and umami were played on. A very humbling experience that will benefit Joon especially on his culinary journey. Knowledge of the science behind tasting adds to this man's arsenal.
That's a wrap for today's script. More to come soon. As always, stay strong & stay vivid!
Reference
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