Dental News - Flavouring agents stimulate molecular defence system study suggests

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 17. July 2018

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MUNICH, Germany: In the past, it has been proven that factors such as age, health and diet influence the composition of saliva. However, little is known about the effects of individual food constituents. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) recently learnt that citric acid and spicy 6-gingerol, found in ginger, not only add special flavours to food and beverages, but also stimulate the molecular defences in human saliva.

To gain a better understanding of the effects of different food constituents, the research team studied the influence of the following flavours on the composition of human saliva: citric acid (sour), the sweetener aspartame (sweet), iso-alpha acids (bitter), the flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (umami), table salt (salty), 6-gingerol (spicy) and the substances contained in Sichuan pepper—hydroxy-alpha-sanshool (tingling) and hydroxy-beta-sanshool (numbing).

The researchers demonstrated that all the flavouring agents under investigation modulated the protein composition of saliva to a greater or lesser extent. Analyses also showed that the changes triggered by citric acid and 6-gingerol activated the molecular defence system in saliva.

Saliva protects the oral cavity from external pathogens. As part of the innate molecular immune system, saliva contains various antimicrobial molecules, including the antibacterial enzyme lysozyme. Among the results of the study was that citric acid caused the lysozyme level to increase tenfold.

Further studies on bacterial cultures have shown that this increase is significant enough to almost completely prevent the growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Lysozyme protects the oral cavity against these bacteria by destroying their cell walls.

“Our new findings show that flavouring substances already display biological effects in the oral cavity that go far beyond their known sensory properties,” said Prof. Thomas Hofmann, Director of the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology and Chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science at TUM. Hofmann explained that one of the goals of food systems biology is to further investigate these using the latest analytical methods. In his opinion, this is the only way to find new approaches for the long-term production of food in which the ingredient and function profiles are aligned with the health and sensory needs of consumers.

The study, titled “Dynamic proteome alteration and functional modulation of human saliva induced by dietary chemosensory stimuli”, was published on 6 June 2018 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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