Awaken olfactory receptors of humans and experimental animals by coffee odourants to induce appetite.

Smell and its mechanism has been of interest to scientists for many years. Smell, not only provides a sensual pleasure of food and perfumes for humans but also reminds us of past memories, thoughts, locations and finally warns of dangers such as fire. One of the uses of coffee beans is on perfume counters, enabling people to distinguish between perfume fragrances. We hypothesize that coffee can be also used to refresh olfactory receptors after cooking, since people usually experience loss of appetite after cooking. We have experienced an increase in appetite, after cooking, by smelling coffee beans. This is probably due to the detachment of food odourants from olfactory receptors by the coffee odourant molecules. We also think that coffee smell could be used in animal research studies, to keep animals healthy by stimulating their appetite. In a recent study, 28 different odourants have been identified from coffee. One or more of these odourants may have strong binding affinity to olfactory receptors which results in detachment of other odourants from the receptors. The high vibration intensity from coffee odourant molecules may cause the detachment of food odourant from olfactory receptors. Another hypothesis might be the unique structure of these coffee odourants. Studies need to be done to investigate the effect of coffee smell on salivary flow and appetite in animals and humans.