Compounds that give coffee a unique "taste"

Coffee drinkers will instinctively realize the pleasure of drinking a smooth, full-bodied coffee compared to drinking light coffee
.

In addition to adding cream or sugar, the coffee itself also produces this sensation-this is called mouthfeel-but the specific compound has not been clearly defined

The researchers will announce their results today at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society
.

ACS Fall 2021 is a mixed conference.

"We know that coffee itself affects the taste, which is traditionally thought to be due to sugar and lipids," said Dr.
Christopher Simmons, the co-lead researcher of the project
.

"But our team found that this feeling may actually be driven by small molecules, which is unique

Graduate student Brianne Linne presented the research at the conference.
She had previously studied the touch of the tongue when she had the opportunity to study the coffee body
.

"From our background reading, we found that the definition of coffee body is very vague and sometimes even contradictory, so we think this will be an interesting topic worthy of our research," she said

The research team first established a descriptive analysis team to separate the components of coffee taste
.

They started with four different types of coffee, and the assessors authorized by the Professional Coffee Association gave different ratings based on the taste of the coffee

Simmons said: "In order to better define the word'body', we break it down into individual components so that we can find compounds that drive these specific sensations
.

" Through the four tactile sub-attributes of chalkiness, taste, astringency and thickness To distinguish coffee

Researchers have discovered that a cluster of small molecules contributes to the taste of coffee
.

Peterson said that they isolated melanoid compounds formed during the Maillard reaction during the baking process and linked them to astringency for the first time

The team is now interested in whether there are mechanoreceptors in the mouth to detect these small molecules
.

According to Peterson, this receptor may be responsible for the decrease in oral coating sensation with the increase in caffeine quinic acid