Optimisation and validation of the "strathclyde simulated mouth" for beverage flavour research

Flavour is perceived as the result of partition and equilibrium of volatile odorants of a food during consumption. Research previously carried out wit h whisky has been restricted to sensory and conventional chemical analyses, which have made a contribution to understanding the process, but cannot sh ow what happens when whisky is consumed. Dynamic headspace methods are requ ired to take a step further into understanding the phyco-chemical interacti ons that take place in the mouth of the consumer or laboratory assessor Buc cal headspace analysis has been used for whiskies, but cannot be used for m odel systems of non-food materials. The "Simulated Mouth" was therefore des igned and constructed to imitate the mouth. Operation of the simulated mouth was optimised using buccal headspace analy sis as a reference method. Parameters that were taken into consideration we re: the flow rate of hydrated air through the simulated mouth cavity, prese nce of artificial saliva, the size of the vessel, the amount of whisky used , the use of glass bends to simulate teeth, shaking or static condition, an d the time for collection of volatiles. The simulated mouth showed systemat ic changes in a series of samples of different maturation times. The arrang ement of the model and the methodology should also be appropriate for study of flavour release from other liquid systems.