When biology married chemistry : Moving flavour formulation forward with new technology
Sen Hirano , director of data science & software at Aromyx , describes a platform that mirrors the human response to odour
Analytical chemistry measures the chemical composition of materials . While analysing chemicals can provide information on aspects of matter , such as concentrations or mass , studying the biological response to chemicals is extremely powerful and can lead to qualitative information that can inform how products are reformulated or how new products are launched .
Quantitative biologic data
According to a recent Harvard Business School study , 95 % of new product offerings in food & beverage and consumer packaged goods fail . The drive for more sustainable ingredients and products has further challenged brands to improve on traditional product development cycles to meet consumer demand .
Smell and taste are decisive factors in the buying decision for many consumer products , yet developers use of subjective , highly variable data from human testing panels . This is in part because of the extreme complexity and subjectivity of these two senses .
Every odour is represented by a unique olfactory receptor code in the human brain . An odour molecule can bind to one or more receptors , and each receptor can bind several different odours . This enables the nose to create ‘ combinatorial codes ’ to identify each of them ( Figure 1 ).
Identifying the composite profile of a substance , like a food , beverage or perfume , for example , is a scientific and reproducible process , and is often achieved with technologies such as GC-MS . Aromyx ’ s technology uses measurable biological response to generate objective and reproducible results as well . It uses the human biological receptors in the nose and tongue to characterise products in a way deeply relevant to consumer experience .
Olfactory Receptor Code in the Brain have struggled for decades with the
Environment
Aromyx has developed the largest commercial database of receptors , ingredients and chemicals , and word descriptors , using its proprietary biotechnology platform . Testing consumer products and ingredients against these receptors yields quantitative measurements that provide details about how a person would perceive that product .
We then apply this unique data to target consumer perceptions and preferences , and thus to guide and empower product developers . With a science-based platform that objectively measures taste and smell , developers can leverage Aromyx to achieve greater confidence and less trial and error in a unique new way .
Reducing human bias
The Aromyx approach to sample analysis differs considerably from traditional analytical techniques like GC-MS that seek to identify and quantitate individual chemical entities .
Brain
An odour molecule can bind to one or more receptors , and each receptor can bind several different odours . This enables the nose to create ' combinatorial codes ' to identify each odour
Discrimination of millions of different odours is possible because each odour is represented by a distinct combinatorial code of receptors
Figure 1 – How the human brain decodes odours
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40 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981