Descriptive analysis of oral pungency

Abstract

Pungent spices are well-recognized for their aromatic and pungent nature; however, relatively little is known about their pungent or ‘burning’ responses. Therefore, this research was undertaken to characterize oral pungency of the principal irritants or red pepper (capsaicin), black pepper (piperine), cinnamon (cinnamaldehyde), cumin (cuminaldehyde), cloves (eugenol), ginger (ginger oleoresin), and alcohol (ethanol). These compounds were evaluated for four pungent qualities (burning, tingling, numbing, overall), two temporal qualities (lag time, overall duration), and three spatial qualities (longitudinal location, lateral location, localized/diffuse). The pungency of cinnamaldehyde was primarily burning and tingling. It had a quick onset and rapid decay. The pungency of eugenol had a long-lasting, predominantly numbing effect. The pungency piperine, capsaicin and ginger were primarily burning, but had different temporal and spatial responses. The pungency of ethanol was most diffuse in nature, with some burning and tingling sensations. It had the shortest perceived onset and overall duration. The pungency of cuminaldehyde was equally burning, tingling and numbing.