Eideard

While trying to figure out what makes certain beverages cloudy, Cornell researchers made the startling discovery that certain chemicals in green tea — and perhaps red wine — react with saliva in ways that can alter how we perceive flavors.

Specifically, regular consumption of the polyphenol-rich drinks can boost astringent sensations and our sensitivity to acids, reports Karl Siebert, professor of food science, Cornell University. Siebert also discovered that we all have varying levels of polyphenols already stored in our systems.

Siebert, who worked for 18 years in a brewery before becoming an academic, stumbled upon the finding while studying the relationship between polyphenols — chemical compounds found in plants — and protein chains in such drinks as beer and apple juice…

Siebert’s group discovered the strong effect of pH on haze formation, peaking at a pH level near 4. More acidic beverages like grape juice don’t get as cloudy. Higher pHs also lead to less haze.

These findings led Siebert to question whether the same thing happened in people’s mouths…

He then measured the polyphenol levels in saliva of people on days before, during and after they consumed several cups of green tea. This showed that saliva normally contains polyphenols, and there are large differences among individuals. Regular red wine and green tea drinkers had the highest levels. Drinking green tea was shown to elevate the saliva polyphenol levels.

“I would expect that red wine drinking would also, but we didn’t demonstrate this,” Siebert said…

“It appears that there is a metabolic pool of polyphenol that is influenced by dietary habits, and that the salivary polyphenol level influences perception of astringency caused by acids,” Siebert said.

RTFA. I’ll watch for an easily accessible copy of the original research – and the work that follows on from this study. Siebert thinks it may explain the “French paradox” – how they have a relatively low incidence of heart disease, despite their diet rich in saturated fats.

In a first-of-its kind study, scientists reported today at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) that snack foods like popcorn and many popular breakfast cereals contain “surprisingly large” amounts of healthful antioxidant substances called “polyphenols.”

Polyphenols are a major reason why fruits and vegetables — and foods like chocolate, wine, coffee, and tea — have become renowned for their potential role in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

Until now, however, no one knew that commercial hot and cold whole grain cereals — regarded as healthful for their fiber content — and snack foods also were a source of polyphenols.

“Early researchers thought the fiber was the active ingredient for these benefits in whole grains, the reason why they may reduce the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease,” said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., who headed the new study. “But recently, polyphenols emerged as potentially more important. Breakfast cereals, pasta, crackers, and salty snacks constitute over 66 percent of whole grain intake in the U.S. diet.”

Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said “We found that, in fact, whole grain products have comparable antioxidants per gram to fruits and vegetables. This is the first study to examine total phenol antioxidants in breakfast cereals and snacks, whereas previous studies have measured free antioxidants in the products…”

The whole grain cereal with the most antioxidants are made with wheat, with corn, oats and rice cereals following in descending order, according to Vinson. He also noted that raisin bran has the highest amount of antioxidants per serving, primarily due to the raisins.

Bran cereals made from wheat overall do not have more antioxidants than wheat cereals, though they do have more fiber, he said. In other findings, he said that whole grain flours are very high in antioxidants; whole grain snacks have slightly lower levels of antioxidants than cereals; of snacks, popcorn has the highest level of antioxidants; and there is a wide variation in the amount of antioxidants in each class of cold cereal.

OK, so when you’re preparing your popcorn – turn it into a thoroughly Mediterranean snack. Instead of drizzling melted butter over it, put a couple ounces of a good virgin olive oil in a microwave-capable glass measuring cup – along with a few finely chopped garlic cloves. Microwave it for 5 minutes at about one-third power.

Pour that over your popcorn along with a minimum of salt – and Rock On!