Exploring Olfactory-Oral Cross-Modal Interactions through Sensory and Chemical Characteristics of Italian Red Wines.

Elisabetta Pittari,Luigi Moio,Vincenzo Gerbi,Maurizio Ugliano,Paola Piombino,Panagiotis Arapitsas,Andrea Curioni,Giuseppina Paola Parpinello

doi:10.3390/foods9111530

Abstract

This work aimed at investigating red wine olfactory–oral cross-modal interactions, and at testing their impact on the correlations between sensory and chemical variables. Seventy-four Italian red whole wines (WWs) from 10 varieties, and corresponding deodorized wines (DWs), were evaluated by sensory descriptive assessment. Total phenols, proanthocyanidins, ethanol, reducing sugars, pH, titratable and volatile acidity were determined. PCA results highlighted different sensory features of the 10 wine types. ANOVAs (p < 0.05) showed that olfactory cues might play modulation effects on the perception of in-mouth sensations with 7 (harsh, unripe, dynamic, complex, surface smoothness, sweet, and bitter) out of 10 oral descriptors significantly affected by odours. Three weak but significant positive correlations (Pearson, p < 0.0001) were statistically found and supported in a cognitive dimension: spicy and complex; dehydrated fruits and drying; vegetal and unripe. In the absence of volatiles, correlation coefficients between sensory and chemical parameters mostly increased. Proanthocyanidins correlated well with drying and dynamic astringency, showing highest coefficients (r > 0.7) in absence of olfactory–oral interactions. Unripe astringency did not correlate with polyphenols supporting the idea that this sub-quality is a multisensory feeling greatly impacted by odorants. Results support the significance of cross-modal interactions during red wine tasting, confirming previous findings and adding new insights on astringency sub-qualities and their predictive parameters.

Highlights

Flavour results from the integration of all sensations perceived in the mouth and in the nose cavities, including olfactory, tastes, and other oral sensations involvingFoods 2020, 9, 1530; doi:10.3390/foods9111530 www.mdpi.com/journal/foodsFoods 2020, 9, 1530 tactile and trigeminal perceptions [1,2]
The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of olfactory cues on tastes and astringency sub-qualities during red wine tasting
In order to account for the wide sensory diversity that different red wines can show, the experiments were carried out on 74 wines selected among the 111 Italian red wines (11 grape varieties), whose astringency has been recently studied [40]

Summary

Introduction

Flavour results from the integration of all sensations perceived in the mouth and in the nose cavities, including olfactory (orthonasal and retronasal), tastes, and other oral sensations involvingFoods 2020, 9, 1530; doi:10.3390/foods9111530 www.mdpi.com/journal/foodsFoods 2020, 9, 1530 tactile and trigeminal perceptions [1,2]. Flavour perception is significantly affected by the interactions among sensory stimuli [3]. Among all the sensory characteristics, odour and astringency are extremely important to define the complexity and quality of red wines and represent the two main intrinsic drivers of red wine consumers’ purchasing decisions [6,7,8]. The interactions between non-volatile and volatile wine fractions, and between the sensory stimuli elicited by their constituents, are broadly reported to influence wine chemical and sensory characteristics. Orthonasal and retronasal olfactory perceptions have been reported to be strongly influenced by wine chemical components, such as polyphenols, due to their effects on aroma release (see [20] and references therein). Studying the cross-modal interactions of wine odour–mouthfeel stimuli is a subject of interest for wine researchers and producers to understand consumers’ perceptions and choices

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Methods

Results