2025 7+8

We rely on honeybees to pollinate our crops and a new food could protect them from growing threats.

Study finds early smell loss in Alzheimer's linked to brain changes, paving way for new screening tools and early intervention strategies.

Results of studying cocoa bean fermentation in Colombia could pave way to manipulate flavour, say researchers

The textbooks say our ancestors lost the ability to make vitamin C because we didn't need it, but the loss may have protected us from some parasites

The effect lasts only a few picoseconds but demonstrates a way to manipulate the optical properties of materials

Vitamin supplements can be an efficient way to add vitamins lacking in our diet. But they're not a silver bullet.

A new study reveals how to rewire bacteria to produce more vitamin K₂ for supplements and fortified foods.

Immobilized β-glucosidase exhibits enhanced stability, reusability, and glycoside hydrolysis capabilities. Building on these advantages, this study in…

Diana Abbani in Conversation with Nina Studer. In her book "The Hour of Absinthe: A Cultural History of France’s Most Notorious Drink”, Studer explores the history of absinthe through the lenses of cultural, social, and colonial history. She uses absinthe as a lens which allows to look at racial inequalities, gender inequalities, class inequalities and more. She is led by the question how a consumption shared between various groups – men, women and children, bourgeoisie, artists and working classes, colonizers and colonized – could be viewed and interpreted as having vastly different consequences, depending on both a person’s belonging to one of these groups and to behaviors associated to these groups.

The first analysis of mushroom bitterness reveals ultrapotent compounds

Plant-based alternatives usually mimic meat, but a number of key players in the space are developing products that don't explicitly do so

Spirit makers and others in the alcohol sector are crafting new drinks that embrace consumer demand for savory and Asian-inspired flavors.

Some artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin and acesulfame K, have a bitter aftertaste that affects consumer acceptance of reduced-calorie foods and beverages. New research in FEBS Open Bio reveals the potential of compounds that inhibit bitter taste receptors to make artificial sweeteners more palatable.

By recreating extreme conditions found inside deep space interstellar clouds, scientists have produced methanetetrol, or C(OH)4 – a 'super alcohol' that was long theorized about but never actually seen before.

Vitamin B3 and green tea extract helped aging brain cells regain energy and clear toxic protein clumps within 16 hours in a new study—hinting at potential therapies for Alzheimer’s.

University of Florida biologists have discovered three new truffle species, including one that could cost hundreds of dollars per pound within culinary circles.

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital used structural biology approaches to gain insight into how sweet taste receptors detect sweeteners.

Following a fragrant trail, we present for your delectation a selection of the choicest scented snippets from history...

Les fleurs ne sentent pas toujours la rose : certaines privilégient les odeurs de matière fécale ou de charogne pour attirer leurs pollinisateurs. Comment émettent-elles ces odeurs fétides et quand sont-elles apparues dans l’histoire évolutive ?

With disease, weather and aging trees hampering yields in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, are there other locations that could provide a better home for cocoa production?

EU Court overturns titanium dioxide carcinogen classification despite scientific evidence, marking victory for industry lobbies over public health protection in chemical regulation.

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning shines a light on some chemical reactions triggered by the sun’s rays

Nestlé tops Brand Finance’s 2025 food brand rankings for the 10th year, valued at $20bn - $7bn ahead of Lay’s. Lindt enters the top 10 with strong price acceptance, while Cadbury climbs and Heinz improves but stays outside the top 20.

The cocoa market is in chaos and producers around the world are scrambling to adapt.

Among the off-flavors occasionally found in fermented cocoa, a smoky taint is common. While major contributors to the off-flavor are already known, their source has not been fully clarified: wood smoke contact during drying and overfermentation are currently discussed. Odorant screening by gas chromatography–olfactometry and aroma extract dilution analysis applied to a cocoa sample smoked in a worst-case scenario confirmed 2-methoxyphenol, 3- and 4-methylphenol, 3- and 4-ethylphenol, and 3-propylphenol as important smoky odorants and additionally suggested 2,6-dimethoxyphenol as a potential off-flavor compound. Quantitation and odor activity value calculation of the compounds in fermented cocoa with authentic wood smoke contact in the origin revealed 2-methoxyphenol, 4-methylphenol, and 3-ethylphenol as the most potent smoky odorants. Their distribution between nibs and husks showed considerable diffusion into the nibs; thus, husk removal during further processing cannot guarantee a substantial reduction of the smoky compounds.

New research shows that gut bacteria byproducts from dietary tryptophan can restore hormone-secreting gut cells reduced by obesity, potentially offering a natural, side-effect-free alternative to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.

Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, fermented fruit off the forest floor, and this habit may have driven key evolutionary adaptations. By naming and classifying this behavior, scientists are hoping to better understand how alcohol tolerance evolved in our ancestors — and how it might have helped shape everything from safety in the trees to social drinking rituals.

In lab dishes, beef now grows thicker, stronger—and much more like the real thing.

You may not think twice about adding nutmeg to a recipe, but there's more to this spice than meets the eye. Here's what you need to know about its origins.

Levels of the chemical byproduct TFA have multiplied rapidly over the past few years, as researchers scramble to catch up.