A composite sweetening sweetening compound additive based on EEG screening

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of composite sweet compound has sweetening effect additive and its application method, belong to food additive technical field.The additive includes mass ratio 5:0.01:0.00625~24 of sucrose, propylene glycol and composite sweet compound;Wherein, composite sweet compound is selected from at least three kinds in ethyl benzoate, furanone, butyl position decanolactone, propyl position decanolactone, carvacrol, carvone, propyl position nonanolactone, benzyl alcohol, citronellol.The application is by compounding three kinds and more than aroma substance, utilizes multiple aroma synergistic effect taste perception, can realize effective sweetening effect under the premise of significantly reducing sucrose amount, improve the comfort of taste simultaneously.This method not only provides important reference for the sweetening effect of different aroma, has scientific research guiding value, also provides a kind of new strategy for food industry by aroma control, realizes sugar reduction gain, can respond to health needs while maintaining flavor and taste, with wide application prospect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the interdisciplinary fields of food flavor science, neurosensory engineering and food additives, and specifically relates to a compound sweet aroma compound additive system that objectively evaluates and screens sweetness-enhancing effects through electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Background Technology

[0002] Traditional sugar reduction techniques for food often rely on sensory evaluation, which is highly subjective and lacks repeatability. In recent years, neurosensory technologies such as electroencephalography (EEG) have been introduced into food flavor assessment, objectively reflecting consumers' cognitive and emotional responses to flavor by analyzing brain electrophysiological signals. However, to date, EEG neuroindicator systems have not been used in the development and validation of sweetness-enhancing flavor formulations.

[0003] This invention combines food flavor science and neuroscience to propose a sweet aroma compound compound system based on electroencephalogram (EEG) signal feedback, achieving dual optimization of flavor design and neural perception. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides a compound sweetening and flavoring compound additive and its application method to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: In one aspect, the present invention provides a compound sweetening and aroma-enhancing compound additive, the additive comprising sucrose, propylene glycol and a compound sweetening and aroma-enhancing compound in a mass ratio of 5:0.01:0.00625-24; The compound sweet aroma compound is selected from at least three of the following: ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decanoate, propyl decanoate, carvyl alcohol, carvone, propyl nonanoate, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol.

[0006] As a further embodiment of the present invention: the complex sweetening compound includes ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decanoic acid lactone, propyl decanoic acid lactone, carvacrol, carvacrolone, propyl nonanoic acid lactone, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol.

[0007] As a further embodiment of the present invention: in the composite sweetening compound, the mass ratio of ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decanolide, propyl decanolide, carvyl alcohol, carvone, propyl nonanolide, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol is 0.00625:0.05:0.56:2.5:2.5:6:10:15:24, which is an optimal ratio verified by EEG screening.

[0008] As a further aspect of the present invention: the aqueous solution is distilled water.

[0009] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: (1) The compound sweetening and sweet aroma compound additive provided by the present invention, by compounding three or more aroma substances, utilizes the synergistic effect of multiple aromas on taste perception, and can achieve an effective sweetening effect with a significant reduction in sugar content, while also improving the taste comfort.

[0010] (2) This invention uses electroencephalogram (EEG) signals as an objective evaluation method. By analyzing the EEG power spectrum of the frequency bands related to taste reward, sensory processing and cognitive assessment, it accurately screens out aroma combinations with significant cross-modal sweetening effects, thus avoiding the subjectivity and individual differences of traditional sensory evaluation.

[0011] (3) This invention targets the sweet aroma characteristics of fruits and achieves the goal of reducing sugar content by optimizing and compounding corresponding compounds to systematically regulate the aroma. This method not only provides an important reference for studying the sweetening effect of different aromas, but also provides the food industry with a new strategy to achieve sugar reduction and gain through aroma regulation, which has clear industrial application value. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 The bar chart shows the sensory sweetness and comfort of 8 sets of examples and comparative examples.

[0013] Figure 2 The data represents the power-frequency variation curves of EEG from 0 to 30 Hz for the blank control group, comparative example, and all examples.

[0014] Figure 3 The image shows the full-band EEG power spectrum of blank distilled water.

[0015] Figure 4 The EEG power spectra of Comparative Example 1+8 groups at characteristic frequencies of 6.0Hz / 10.0Hz / 22.0Hz are shown (a-Control 1, b-Example 8, c-Example 6, d-Example 3, e-Example 7, f-Example 4, g-Example 5, h-Example 1, i-Example 2). Detailed Implementation

[0016] The present invention will be further illustrated below with reference to specific embodiments and comparative examples. It should be understood that these embodiments are only for illustrating the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0017] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0018] EEG screening process overview: Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were collected from subjects while they tasted different formulations using an EEG device. The analysis focused on the power spectral density and brain topography activation patterns in the 0-5Hz (theta waves, taste reward), 5-15Hz (alpha waves, sensory processing), and 15-30Hz (beta waves, cognitive assessment) frequency bands. The screening criteria were: formulations showing significantly better EEG response intensity and activated brain regions in the above key frequency bands than the control group containing only 5% sucrose were considered to have a sweetening effect.

[0019] The experimental materials and instruments used in the following examples were as follows: Ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyldecyl lactone, propyldecyl lactone, carvacrol, carvacrol, propylnonyl lactone, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol were purchased from Shanghai Meixin Fragrance Co., Ltd.; sucrose was purchased from Henan Wanbang Industrial Co., Ltd.; propylene glycol was purchased from Shanghai Titan Technology Co., Ltd.; and drinking water was Watson's distilled water. All experimental raw materials were food grade. Example 1

[0020] A complex sweetener and flavor enhancer, comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, propyldecyl lactone, butyldecyl lactone, propylnonyl lactone, and ethyl phenylacetate; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, propyldecyl lactone, butyldecyl lactone, propylnonyl lactone, and ethyl phenylacetate was 5:0.01:2.5:0.56:10:0.00625. Example 2

[0021] A compound sweetener additive comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, citronellol, ethyl phenylacetate, and benzyl alcohol; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, citronellol, ethyl phenylacetate, and benzyl alcohol is 5:0.01:24:0.00625:15. Example 3

[0022] A complex sweetener and flavor enhancer, comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, furanone, butyl decanoate, and propyl decanoate; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, furanone, butyl decyl lactone, and propyl decyl lactone was 5:0.01:0.05:0.56:2.5. Example 4

[0023] A compound sweetener additive comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, carvone, citronellol, and ethyl phenylacetate; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, carvone, citronellol, and ethyl phenylacetate is 5:0.01:6:24:0.00625. Example 5

[0024] A compound sweetener additive comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, butyldecyl lactone, protonated nonyl lactone, and benzyl alcohol; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, butylated decyl lactone, propylated nonyl lactone, and benzyl alcohol is 5:0.01:0.56:10:15. Example 6

[0025] A complex sweetener and flavor enhancer, comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, carvacrol, propyldecyl lactone, and ethyl phenylacetate; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, carvacrol, β-decyl lactone, and ethyl phenylacetate was 5:0.01:2.5:2.5:0.00625. Example 7

[0026] A complex sweetener and flavor enhancer includes sucrose, propylene glycol, citronellol, butyldecyl lactone, pro-nonyl lactone, and benzyl alcohol. The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, citronellol, butylated decyl lactone, propylated nonyl lactone, and benzyl alcohol is 5:0.01:24:0.56:10:15. Example 8

[0027] A complex sweetener and flavor enhancer, comprising sucrose, propylene glycol, furanone, citronellol, and butylated decanoic acid lactone; The mass ratio of sucrose, propylene glycol, furanone, citronellol, and butylated decyl lactone was 5:0.01:0.05:24:0.56.

[0028] Examples 1-8 were dissolved in distilled water respectively. The components and their mass percentages (wt%) in Examples 1-8 are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Table 1 Formula composition Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 sucrose 5 5 5 5 Propylene glycol 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Ethyl phenylacetate 0.00625 0.00625 - 0.00625 furanone - - 0.05 - butylated decyl lactone 0.56 - 0.56 - C-position decyl lactone 2.5 - 2.5 - Parsley alcohol - - - - carvone - - - 6 nonyl lactone 10 - - - benzyl alcohol - 15 - - Citronellol - 24 - 24 Formula composition Example 5 Example 6 Example 7 Example 8 sucrose 5 5 5 5 Propylene glycol 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Ethyl phenylacetate - 0.00625 - - furanone - - - 0.005 butylated decyl lactone 0.56 - 0.56 0.56 C-position decyl lactone - 2.5 - - Parsley alcohol - 2.5 - - carvone - - - - nonyl lactone 10 - 10 - benzyl alcohol 15 - 15 - Citronellol - - 24 24 Comparative Example 1

[0029] Add sucrose and propylene glycol in a proportional ratio.

[0030] The mass ratio of sucrose to propylene glycol is 5:0.01.

[0031] Blank example: Distilled water. Effect Example

[0032] (a) Sensory evaluation and EEG testing methods 1. Sensory sweetness testing method, specifically including the following steps: The sensory team consisted of 10 people (6 men and 4 women, aged 20-30). The sensory personnel underwent prior sensory training to familiarize themselves with the use of a 10-centimeter linear scale. The sensory experiments used a 10-point scoring system (0-10) to evaluate the sweetness of solutions at a series of concentration gradients. That is, 0 represents no sweetness, and 10 represents extremely high sweetness; the sweetness increases from 0 to 10. Evaluation results were rounded to one decimal place.

[0033] 2. Comfort was assessed using the following methods: Ten sensory personnel, free from sensory impairments, were able to make certain judgments about the comfort of the solution (including odor, taste, and mouthfeel). Participants were required to rate the comfort based on their genuine feelings, taking into account multiple aspects such as taste, smell, and psychological sensations. A comfort test was also conducted using a 1-10 scale (1- represents dislike, meaning the subject had an extremely negative feeling about the sample, possibly due to a poor taste or smell experience; 10- represents strong liking, meaning the subject had an extremely positive feeling about the sample, even exceeding their expectations).

[0034] 3. Electroencephalography (EEG) testing methods The electroencephalogram (EEG) acquisition device was the Neuroelectrics system, and a 32-electrode cap was used for the EEG experiment. The specific locations of the 32 electrodes are shown in the figure below. The scalp impedance was within 5kΩ, and the sampling frequency was 500Hz. Ten professionally trained sensory evaluators (6 males and 4 females) were selected. They were between 20 and 30 years old, in good health, had no bad habits, and had long-term experience in sensory analysis. Experimental samples were prepared 24 hours in advance and stored at 8°C until use. The experiment was conducted in a fume hood at room temperature using a blind sample method. Subjects were prohibited from eating, drinking, and smoking for 1 hour before the experiment. Subjects were required to be in a resting state, taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly, and maintaining emotional stability before starting the device. During the preparation phase, subjects wore the EEG device, remained in a resting state, took deep breaths and exhaled slowly, and maintained emotional stability. After ensuring a good fit between the cap and the scalp, the device was started, and baseline measurements were taken. Subsequently, using a randomized method, 5 ml samples were sequentially presented to the participants' mouths, held for 20 seconds to perceive the taste, and then spat out. Participants rinsed their mouths with purified water for 30 seconds. During the experiment, participants closed their eyes, remained relaxed and breathed evenly, kept their heads in one position, and avoided speaking or moving to minimize motion artifacts. Each sample was taken until the baseline stabilized before proceeding to the next step. Brain signals were acquired using NIC software. Data processing used MATLAB R2019a software (MathWorks) and the EEGLAB plugin to preprocess the raw EEG signals and extract power spectral density and brain topography for each frequency band.

[0035] (II) Test Results The sensory rating results are shown in Table 3 (the letters in the table indicate the groups with significant differences after one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test, and the same letter indicates no significant difference, p>0.05).

[0036] Table 3 Sample Name Sweetness Comfort Example 1 6.26±0.39de 6.51±0.51b Example 2 6.81±0.33bc 6.64±0.42b Example 3 6.6±0.30cd 6.63±0.46b Example 4 6.2±0.38de 6.08±0.38c Example 5 5.89±0.32e 5.65±0.42d Example 6 7.11±0.42ab 7.26±0.36a Example 7 6.19±0.41de 6.1±0.47c Example 8 7.26±0.64a 7.16±0.44a Comparative Example 1 5.00 5.00 (III) Analysis of EEG Results

[0037] EEG power spectrum and brain topography analysis showed: The sensory results from Examples 1-8 and Comparative Example 1 show that the sweetness and comfort levels changed when different amounts of the nine aroma components were combined. Simultaneously, quantitative analysis of the 0-30Hz full-band EEG power spectrum was conducted, focusing on the 0-5Hz band related to taste reward, the 5-15Hz band related to sensory processing, and the 15-30Hz band related to cognitive assessment. Figure 2 The EEG screening method established in this invention can objectively and accurately identify complex sweet-smelling compounds with cross-modal integrated sweetening effects that enhance both olfactory and gustatory perception, avoiding individual differences in subjective sensory scoring. The screened complex sweet-smelling compounds No. 8 and No. 6 exhibited the most significant sweetening effects, with significantly higher EEG power spectral density across all key frequency bands compared to the pure sucrose control group, confirming their effective enhancement of the sweetness perception of a 5% sucrose aqueous solution.

[0038] Figure 3 The blank sample serves as a baseline without effective taste stimulation. It exhibits the lowest EEG power across the entire 0-50Hz frequency band, and the entire brain topography map shows a green low power, reflecting resting-state neural activity.

[0039] Figure 4 The control group, acting as a positive control, showed significantly higher power in the 0-5Hz (theta wave, taste reward), 5-15Hz (alpha wave, sensory processing), and 15-30Hz (beta wave, cognitive assessment) frequency bands than the white water group. Brain topography showed yellow, moderate-power activation in the prefrontal cortex and central region, which is a typical neural response induced by basic sweetness.

[0040] 8 aroma example groups ( Figure 4The EEG characteristics of all three groups (b, c, d, and g) showed a sweetening trend. Most of the examples (e.g., groups b, c, d, and g) showed significantly higher power in the key frequency bands of 0-5Hz, 5-15Hz, and 15-30Hz than the pure sucrose group. Some groups (b and c) showed a significant power rebound in the gamma band above 30Hz, reflecting that the enhanced neural activity induced by cross-modal integration of olfaction and gustatory sensation directly supports the improved sweetness perception. In the brain topography maps of the example groups (e.g., b, c, and d) at 6.0Hz, 10.0Hz, and 22.0Hz, the range and intensity of the red and yellow high-power regions in the prefrontal cortex and central region (and other taste-related brain areas) were significantly better than in the pure sucrose group, confirming the enhancement of neural reward and cognitive assessment activities. After EEG screening, examples b, c, d, and g showed the most significant sweetening effect, with significantly better EEG response intensity and activation range across all frequency bands than the pure sucrose control group. This method accurately identifies complex sweet aroma compounds with olfactory and gustatory sweetening effects through objective neurophysiological indicators, providing core raw materials and screening basis for developing low-calorie, high-sweetness food sweetening technologies, and has clear industrial application value.

[0041] Based on the combined EEG and sensory data, Examples 6 and 8 exhibited the most significant sweetening effect and neural activation, verifying the feasibility and objectivity of the present invention in screening compound sweet flavor formulations using EEG.

[0042] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any person skilled in the art can modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed in the present invention should still be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A compound sweetener / flavor enhancer, characterized in that, The compound sweetener additive comprises sucrose, propylene glycol, and compound sweetener compounds in a mass ratio of 5:0.01:0.00625~24. The compound sweet aroma compound is selected from at least three of the following: ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decanoate, propyl decanoate, carvyl alcohol, carvone, propyl nonanoate, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol.

2. The complex sweet taste enhancing sweetening compound additive of claim 1, wherein The complex sweet-smelling compounds include ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decyl lactone, propyl decyl lactone, carvyl alcohol, carvone, propyl nonyl lactone, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol.

3. The complex sweet taste enhancing sweetening compound additive of claim 2, wherein The mass ratio of ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decyl lactone, propyl decyl lactone, carvacrol, carvacrol, propyl nonyl lactone, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol is 0.00625:0.05:0.56:2.5:2.5:6:10:15:

24.

4. The complex sweetening, sweet flavor compound additive of claim 3, wherein The compound sweetening and flavoring additive consists of sucrose, propylene glycol, ethyl phenylacetate, furanone, butyl decanoate, propyl decanoate, carvacrol, carvacrol, propyl nonanoate, benzyl alcohol, and citronellol in a mass ratio of 5:0.01:0.00625:0.05:0.56:2.5:2.5:6:10:15:

24.

5. The method of applying the compound sweetening and flavoring compound additive according to claims 1-4, characterized in that, The steps include: adding the compound sweetening and flavoring compound additive to an aqueous solution, dispersing and dissolving it evenly, wherein the sucrose in the mixture after uniform dispersion is 5 wt%.

6. The method of applying the compound sweetening and flavoring compound additive according to claim 5, characterized in that, The aqueous solution is distilled water.

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