Release cells, breath analysis and in-mouth analysis in flavour research

The flavour of a food or beverage is not perceived in a single event, but r ather as a series of events experienced as the food is consumed. Recent met hods in favour research have taken account of this. and techniques have bee n developed to study flavour release in model systems (release cells or sim ulated mouths) and from the mouth or nose of assessors. while consuming foo ds. However, while there is agreement on the need in some cases for hydrati on or artificial saliva in simulated mouths, other parameters must be optim ised on a case-by-case basis. Individual variability may still be a problem in breath analysis, and further work is required to determine the extent t o which there are real differences in volatile profiles. The techniques of release cells and breath analysis must now be applied to provide data, whic h will allow flavour release to be modelled. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.