Study: Dislike of Brassica Vegetables Is Written in Oral Microbiome

Interactions between Brassica vegetables, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, and human saliva can affect in-mouth odor development, which in turn may be linked to individual perception and liking. A compound called S-Methyl-l-cysteine sulfoxide, which is present in Brassica vegetables, produces odor-active sulfur volatiles due to the activity of enzymes present in plant tissue and due to bacteria. In a new study, researchers found that levels of these volatiles are similar in parent-child pairs, suggesting shared oral microbiomes, also found that high levels cause children to dislike the vegetables.

Frank et al. investigated differences in sulfur volatile production between saliva from children and adults using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry method using raw cauliflower powder. Image credit: Frank et al., doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c03889.

Frank et al. investigated differences in sulfur volatile production between saliva from children and adults using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry method using raw cauliflower powder. Image credit: Frank et al., doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c03889.

CSIRO’s Dr. Damian Frank and colleagues aimed to investigate differences in sulfur volatile production in saliva from children and adults and analyze how they affect Brassica acceptance.

They used an ex vivo proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry to identify the main odor-active compounds in raw and steamed cauliflower and broccoli.

Then, they asked 98 child/parent pairs, with children between 6 and 8 years of age, to rate the key odor compounds.

Dimethyl trisulfide, which smells rotten, sulfurous and putrid, was the least liked odor by children and adults.

The researchers then mixed saliva samples with raw cauliflower powder and analyzed the volatile compounds produced over time.

Large differences in sulfur volatile production were found between individuals, and children usually had similar levels as their parents, which is likely explained by similar microbiomes.

Children whose saliva produced high amounts of sulfur volatiles disliked raw Brassica vegetables the most, but this relationship was not seen in adults, who might learn to tolerate the flavor over time.

The results provide a new potential explanation for why some people like Brassica vegetables and others (especially children) don’t.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to measure differences in the rate of development of sulfur volatiles in saliva between adults and children and potential impacts on vegetable liking, and links between related adults and children,” the scientists said.

“A significant negative relationship between the degree of sulfur volatile production and liking in children provides an intriguing new potential explanation for differences in liking for Brassica vegetables, especially in children.”

The findings appear in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

_____

Damian Frank et al. In-Mouth Volatile Production from Brassica Vegetables (Cauliflower) and Associations with Liking in an Adult/Child Cohort. J. Agric. Food Chem, published online September 22, 2021; doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c03889

Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here

Related Posts
Major Quantum Computing Strategy Suffers Serious Setbacks thumbnail

Major Quantum Computing Strategy Suffers Serious Setbacks

In 2018, researchers at the forefront of an entirely new approach to building quantum computers published, in the journal Nature, what looked to be a landmark achievement. Existing quantum computers are notoriously fragile, their quantum bits — qubits — prone to incurring random errors. But if the qubits could be made from strange configurations of…
Read More
No Spoilers, Please! Why Curiosity Makes Us Patient thumbnail

No Spoilers, Please! Why Curiosity Makes Us Patient

Ask any birder, and they'll tell you about the thrill of identifying a new species. Recently, a tapping sound outside a window alerted one of us (Hsiung) to look up and spot a striking, unfamiliar woodpecker in a nearby tree. Woodpeckers are fairly common in Hsiung’s neighborhood in the southeastern U.S., but this one looked
Read More
India bids farewell to 'supermum' tiger Collarwali thumbnail

India bids farewell to ‘supermum’ tiger Collarwali

Of the 29 cubs Collarwali gave birth to over her lifetime, 25 survived to adulthood. Indian animal lovers are in mourning over the sudden passing of a nationally famous tigress credited with repopulating a forest redoubt for her endangered kin. Collarwali, dubbed "supermum" by local press for giving birth to nearly 30 cubs, died peacefully…
Read More
Index Of News
Total
0
Share