Aiming to unravel interspecific differences in olfactory preferences, we performed comparative studies of odor valence in flies, mice, and humans. Our analysis suggests a model where flies and mice share similar olfactory preferences, but neither species share odor preferences with humans. This model contrasts with a previous study by Mandairon et al., which suggested that the olfactory preferences of mice and humans are similar. A probabilistic examination revealed that underpowered studies can result in spurious significant correlations, which can account for the differences between both studies. Future analyses aimed at dissecting the olfactory preferences across species need to test large numbers of odorants to stress-test the model proposed here and identify robust associations.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjy074 | DOI Listing |
Curr Biol
January 2025
Department of Translational Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. Electronic address:
Flavor is the quintessential multisensory experience, combining gustatory, retronasal olfactory, and texture qualities to inform food perception and consumption behavior. However, the computations that govern multisensory integration of flavor components and their underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we use rats as a model system to test the hypothesis that taste and smell components of flavor are integrated in a reliability-dependent manner to inform hedonic judgments and that this computation is performed by neurons in the primary taste cortex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFoods
January 2025
Interdepartmental Research Centre "Nutraceuticals and Food for Health", University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, I-56124 Pisa, Italy.
Spices and aromatic herbs are important components of everyday nutrition in several countries and cultures, thanks to their capability to enhance the flavor of many dishes and convey significant emotional contributions by themselves. Indeed, spices as well as aromatic herbs are to be considered not only for their important values of antimicrobial agents or flavor enhancers everybody knows, but also, thanks to their olfactory and gustatory spectrum, as drivers to stimulate the consumers' memories and, in a stronger way, emotions. Considering these unique characteristics, spices and aromatic herbs have caught the attention of consumer scientists and experts in sensory analysis for their evaluation using semi-quantitative approaches, with interesting evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants (Basel)
December 2024
Key Laboratory Biological Crop Pathogens & Insects Zhejiang Pro, State Key Laboratory Rice Biology, Institute Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
The flea-weevil Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an Eastern Palaearctic Steppe species, and a serious pest of elm trees ( spp., Ulmaceae) by feeding on the leaves (adults) or mining them heavily (larvae) in Xinjiang, China. In order to search for chemical and ecological pest management practices, the olfactory preferences of for leaves of three elm species were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroorganisms
December 2024
Traditional Food Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute, Iseo-myeon, Wanju-gun 55365, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea.
The microbial community of a soy sauce is one of the most important factors in determining the sensory characteristics of that soy sauce. In this study, the microbial communities and sensory characteristics of twenty samples of Korean soy sauce () were investigated using shotgun metagenome sequencing and descriptive sensory analysis, and their correlations were explored by partial least square (PLS) regression analysis. The metagenome analysis identified 1332 species of bacteria, yeasts, molds, and viruses across 278 genera, of which , , and accounted for more than 80% of the total community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Biol
January 2025
Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Synthetic Biology Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Background: Alternative food sources are crucial for the survival and reproduction of moths during nectar scarcity. Noctuid moths make a better use of fermented food sources than moths from other families, while the underlying molecular and genetic basis remain unexplored. As the fermentation progresses, yeasts lysis and the accumulation of metabolic byproducts alter the composition and the volatile release of the sugary substrates.
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