2025 3+4

Instead of masking off flavors with sugar, salt, or artificial additives, companies can let bacteria do the work.

Garden strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is a hybrid species with a narrowed allelic diversity due to intensive breeding. We studied the chemical compo…

Pourquoi une fleur de rose sent-elle… la rose ? Des scientifiques ont analysé la composition chimique de parfums de fleurs, dont les composés volatils servent à plaire, mais aussi à se défendre.

An author of a recent study about lightning's effect on trees in Panamanian forests says his team has gotten a large, positive response from people, including those who call the trees inspirational.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS has achieved another milestone in chemical liquid analysis. The electronics required to control the ion-sensitive field effect transistors ( ...

Advanced computational software is streamlining quantum chemistry research by automating many of the processes of running molecular simulations. The complicated design of these software packages, ...

Midelton is releasing an extremely rare 50 Year Old single pot Irish Whiskey that retails for a whopping $60,000.

The neo-gourmand coffee notes are brewing up a scented storm in the world of perfumery. How do you take yours...?

Chinese universities completely dominated one recent ranking of the chemical sciences but that’s not the whole picture

Peanut oil is appreciated for its high nutritional value and distinctive properties, also recognized as one of the major vegetable oils. Flavor is a s…

This review systematically examines advances in flavor microencapsulation technology from 2014 to 2024, focusing on innovations in preparation techniques, trends in wall material selection, and characterization methods. Literature metrological analysis shows that spray drying is the predominant technology (25% of reports); its shortcomings in volatile flavor retention have driven improved strategies such as vacuum low-temperature drying, ultrasound assistance, and monodisperse atomization. Emerging technologies such as electrohydrodynamic methods (electrospinning/electrospraying) and supercritical fluid processing are favored due to their nonthermal advantages. Overall, traditional polysaccharides have been widely used due to their good emulsifying and stabilizing properties. In the meanwhile, plant-based polysaccharides (e.g., inulin, hemicellulose) and proteins (e.g., pea protein) are increasingly preferred as the wall materials driven by sustainability and clean-labeling requirements. Morphological analysis and particle size and distribution studies have highlighted the key role of microstructure in stability and release kinetics, with multicore and multishell structures optimizing controlled release performance. Despite progress, gaps remain in the standardized assessment of encapsulation efficacy, the cost-effectiveness of novel materials, and practical food applications. In the future, a combination of interdisciplinary approaches is needed to investigate low-energy preparation technologies, functionalized wall materials, and intelligent release mechanisms to achieve the better application of flavor microencapsulates in food.

Burnt meat has a distinct dry texture and bitter flavor; this happens due to denaturing and the Maillard reaction, but there are some tricks to save the dish.

The decline in alcohol consumption is leading to a rise in non-alcoholic drinks, including superjuices. We find out what these new functional drinks are and how they're shaping the beverage space.

Humans have been fermenting foods for millennia, due to the process’s ability to enhance the flavours of what we eat and preserve it for when times are lean. Now, new science is uncovering how eating fermented food is beneficial for both our physical and mental health and how it may possibly play a key role in the food of the future by creating a source of alternative protein.In this episode we speak to Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Director of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein and the Microbial Food Hub at Imperial College London.He tells us how we all eat more fermented food than we may think, why it’s so good for our guts and how cutting-edge science can help us to create tasty fermented food that is also kind to the environment.This episode is brought to you in association with EIT Food https://www.eitfood.eu/Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Physicists have determined that the ideal technique for pour-over coffee can use up to 10 per cent fewer beans to make a cup just as flavoursome

Learn about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Discover how key plants reduce inflammation and protect blood vessels.

Researchers from chemistry, biology, and medicine are increasingly turning to AI models to develop new hypotheses. However, it is often unclear on which basis the algorithms come to their conclusi ...

The next generation of genetically altered food is forging ahead, aiming to be attractive to consumers rather than producers. Katrina Megget finds out whether Crispr means crisper salads

Computers can “see” and “hear,” but fully digitizing scent has so far eluded science – but that may soon change

This study explores the enhancement of chicken bone flavor through enzymatic hydrolysis and the Maillard reaction, providing insights into the formati…

This video is about the anatomy and physiology of the olfactory system, breaking down how we process smells and how the brain interprets them. We’ll dive dee...

Blueberry fruits of different varieties have characteristic aromas. We selected two southern highbush varieties, 'O'Neal' (high aroma, 'ON') and 'Mist…

Scientists have created miso aboard the ISS, and while it is good, it is still not the same as Earth-made miso. Why is that?

Listen to this episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class: 'Strawberries' released on April 6, 2025. Stream this episode and discover all the new episodes from your favorite podcasts on Podbay, the best podcast player on the web.

(E)-5-Methylhept-2-en-4-one is a key flavour compound in hazelnuts with practical applications in perfumery, flavour, and food industries due to its unique sensory properties. This study developed an effective and sustainable achiral reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with diode array detection (DAD) to determine (E)-5-methylhept-2-en-4-one and its reaction intermediates prepared via chiral-pool-based chemoenzymatic synthesis. Given that two reaction intermediates are thermally unstable at the high temperatures used in gas chromatography, HPLC separation at ambient temperatures (avg. 25 °C) was an appropriate approach. Optimised HPLC conditions consisting of C18 type stationary phase, mixture of acetonitrile: water (60:40, v/v) as mobile phase under isocratic conditions and flow rate 0.5 mL.min−1 were used. Chiral normal phase HPLC–DAD method with polysaccharide derivative stationary phase and n-hexane:propan-2-ol (90:10, v/v) as mobile phase was used for separation of enantiomers of (E)-5-methylhept-2-en-4-one. Both achiral and chiral methods were successfully used for monitoring the course of chemoenzymatic synthesis, conversion of reaction intermediates and purity of final product. The achiral HPLC–DAD method showed good linearity (R2 = 0.9997) in concentration range 0.5–100 μg.mL−1. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.1 and 0.3 μg.mL−1, respectively. Using developed chiral HPLC–DAD method, sufficient enantioseparation was achieved with resolution of 4.73. Values of LOD and LOQ were 0.2 μg.mL–1 and 0.5 μg.mL–1, respectively. Besides synthesis monitoring and purity product determination, the developed chiral and achiral HPLC methods could find application in the analysis of (S)-(E)-5-methylhept-2-en-4-one in nut-flavoured foods (e.g., pastries, cookies, desserts, beverages) and personal care products, as well as differentiate pure olive oil from those adulterated with hazelnut oil. Graphic Abstract

Researchers at FaBA have developed a toolkit to help manufacturers improve the texture of products to be more appealing to consumers.

You don't often find crowds flocking to take in the pungent scent of rotting flesh, yet that's just what happens when a corpse flower blooms at a public garden. But this iconic endangered plant is now facing a new threat – our aversion to paperwork.

Exploring how flavor chemists, or "flavorists," create imaginative—and imaginary—flavors.

Saccharin, the artificial sweetener used in diet foods like yogurts and sugar-free drinks, can kill multidrug-resistant bacteria—including one of the world's most dangerous pathogens.

This study investigated how juiciness of the plant-based meat analogue (PBMA) and beef patties affects in vivo aroma release and perception. Patties were prepared from PBMA and beef mince, spiked with menthone as an aroma marker, and cooked to different core temperatures. Increasing core temperature decreased the perceived juiciness of PBMA and beef patties. In vivo in-nose menthone release and peppermint aroma perception were measured simultaneously using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry and time–intensity profiling. Although differences in perceived juiciness were observed, no significant differences in in vivo aroma release and perception were observed in PBMA and beef patties, suggesting that aroma release and perception were not influenced by juiciness. Juiciness may not affect in vivo aroma release and perception due to the limited amount of serum released from the matrix during mastication and the entrapment of fat in the bolus. The effect of juiciness on aroma release may be product-specific.