2025 7+8

Beyond calories and vitamins, our food hides thousands of compounds. Scientists are only beginning to explore this ‘dark matter’.

Researchers demonstrated how amino acids could spontaneously attach to RNA under early Earth-like conditions using thioesters, providing a long-sought clue to the origins of protein synthesis. This finding bridges the “RNA world” and “thioester world” theories and suggests how life’s earliest peptides may have formed.

In this excerpt from "The Story of CO2," Peter Brennan explains how changes in the Earth's ecosystem led to fire, which in turn led our ancestors to become the "fire apes."

This article examines how regulators like the UK’s Food Standards Agency are adapting to support innovation in food production. It highlights efforts to guide manufacturers of novel foods, such as cell-cultivated and precision-fermented products, through the approval process, while maintaining high safety standards.

The innovation, called Hasecitrus, allows sports drinks and other products to preserve flavors longer while maintaining clean-label formulations.

There are many ways to boost brain power, from exercising more often to learning new skills.

Rebaudioside A (RA) is limited in its application due to inherent bitterness and off-flavors. Aroma compounds have been widely studied for their modul…

Why do some Americans say “soda,” others say “pop,” and Southerners ask for a “coke”? The answer is fizzy, historical, and regional.

Researchers from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service are opening new markets for America's fruit growers. Fruit flies are major economic and quarantine pests that impact fresh fruit production and impede international trade. Flies lay their eggs on fruits, making the infested fruit their host, resulting in millions of dollars in damage annually. For international trade, fruits must undergo quarantine treatment or other mitigation measures to control possible infestation by fruit flies and other high-risk pests.

Protein hydrolysates are considered as suitable reactants for the Maillard reaction due to their desirable taste characteristic and highly reactivity.…

A restaurant in the English county of Cheshire has launched a water menu, as have a number of US establishments. Is it really possible, though, to tell one terroir from another?

Research reveals why single fermentation beers sometimes lack the thick, stable foam of other pub favourites

Scientists have identified compounds that block bitter taste receptors activated by saccharin and acesulfame K. The most promising is (R)-(-)-carvone, which reduces bitterness without the cooling side effect of menthol, potentially making sugar-free products much more palatable.

Just how senses work together in the brain has been an area of fascination for scientists for decades. New research reveals some key insights.

When you order a coffee, do you ask for it to be "extra hot"? Whether you enjoy tea, coffee or something else, hot drinks are a comforting and often highly personal ritual.

The vast majority of coffee grown around the world consists of only two species: arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta (Coffea canephora). The dependence on only these two species of coffee is proving to be a challenge in the face of climate change. As temperatures rise and weather becomes more unpredictable, coffee farmers all over the world are having problems producing one of the world's favorite drinks.

Chocolate and porridge are both popular but only one gets binged. Why? Our psychology plays a bigger role in overeating than food labels alone.

Salt is the key factor affecting the taste and quality of food, but excessive intake increases health risks. Saltiness perception can be modulated via…

Study links early smell loss in Alzheimer’s to immune cells removing key brain fibers, suggesting potential for early detection via smell testing.

What do you think hell smells like? British researcher Dr William Tullett has faithfully recreated its foul odour – or at least how our forefathers imagined it.Thanks to an EU-funded research initiative called ODEUROPA, which ran from 2021 to 2023, Tullett did not need to spend years scouring archives across Europe. Instead, the information was accessible in the ODEUROPA Smell Explorer, a unique, easily searchable database of historical smells, including more than 2.4 million individual instances or mentions of different smells.

More familiar smells and scents from complex molecules can often be more appealing

A new study introduces a safe, painless way to improve the sense of smell using radio waves.

We emit a barrage of whiffy chemicals through our pores and in our breath. Some are a sign that we might be getting ill – and could be used to diagnose diseases up to years in advance.

Owing to their excellent and distinctive flavor characteristics, consumers worldwide are attracted to tea. Tea flavor is determined by both nonvolatile and volatile constituents, which together influence overall taste and aroma. Tea is generally classified into six categories: green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark teas. However, common questions often arise regarding which chemical compounds in these different types of tea contribute to their unique color and flavor profiles. This review outlines recent studies on the key flavor compounds and color substances of oolong, green, white, yellow, dark, and black teas. The aroma profile and color substances of the tea are significantly altered by modifying the withering, oxidation, and drying methods and durations during the tea manufacturing process. The key aroma compounds and their odor activity values vary significantly across these tea types. Among the six types, oolong, yellow, dark, and black teas have more complex aroma profiles and nonvolatile compounds than white and green teas do. Chlorophylls and their degradation products, along with polyphenolic compounds and their oxidation derivatives, collectively influence the color characteristics of each type of tea.

Functional foods, intense flavours, and all-day snacking are dominating consumer habits. Meanwhile, interest in sustainability, alcohol, and restrictive diets is fading as health, convenience, and flavour take centre stage.

Climacteric fruits like bananas and peaches ripen faster in a paper bag due to the presence of ethylene gas, which acts like a fruit-ripening hormone.

Consumers are losing trust in artificial sweeteners, pushing brands like Coca-Cola to rethink their recipes. Health concerns, taste issues, and demand for clean-label products are driving a shift back to sugar, even as sugar itself remains under fire.

The discovery could increase the supply of the popular commodity, which has seen yields cut due to climate change.