Analytical ultracentrifugation in saliva research: Impact of green tea astringency and its significance on the in-vivo aroma release

Dinu, Vlad; Liu, Chujiao; Ali, Joseph; Ayed, Charfedinne; Gershkovich, Pavel; Adams, Gary G.; Harding, Stephen E.; Fisk, Ian

Abstract

Current saliva testing methods rely on cutting edge yet expensive techniques for the detection and analysis of genetic material, proteins and biomarkers for clinical use. However, these techniques are limited in scope and often cannot be used with complex food materials. We propose an efficient ex-vivo tool for evaluating biologically relevant interactions between food components and human saliva using sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV-AUC). We evaluated macromolecular content from “unstimulated” (US) and “stimulated” (SS) samples pooled from 5 healthy volunteers. Over 90% of total saliva protein consisted of α-amylase and mucin, and up to 10 % was secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA). It was shown that α-amylase concentration increased upon parafilm stimulation, which lead to a decrease in the viscosity of saliva. Then, we used a simple food system (green tea) to evaluate changes in the salivary protein content caused by green tea polyphenols. It was found that aroma release from green tea is highly influenced by interactions between α-amylase and polyphenol epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG). This interaction was found to increase the viscosity of the salivary bulk, suggested to contribute to astringency, and increased the concentrations of β-ionone, benzaldehyde and isovaleraldehyde (P[less than]0.01), suggested to play a significant role in the characteristic flavour of green tea.

Citation

Dinu, V., Liu, C., Ali, J., Ayed, C., Gershkovich, P., Adams, G. G., …Fisk, I. (2018). Analytical ultracentrifugation in saliva research: Impact of green tea astringency and its significance on the in-vivo aroma release. Scientific Reports, 8, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31625-w

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 9, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 6, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 6, 2018
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 7, 2018
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Article Number: 13350
• Pages: 1-9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31625-w
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1045663
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-31625-w