潜水简介：
一个荷兰研究小组发现，自然存在的香气可以减少调味饮料的糖含量，同时保持甜味。Nizo研究人员说，消费者能够分辨出味道和香气之间的差异，因此香气可用于增强甜味。
随着消费者寻找更少糖的健康产品，饮料制造商试图通过用人工或加工的甜味剂代替产品来限制其产品中的成分。但是，尼佐说，消费者更喜欢天然成分。他们还喜欢糖的甜味。
使用专用设备，Nizo使用面板进行了香气测试。他们通过添加六烯酸乙酯（在成熟过程中苹果中合成的天然香气）添加到苹果汁中发现，Tasters认为它含有比实际的糖更多。在那些以前从未暴露于香气的人中，这种影响最强，因此尼佐（Nizo）的研究人员认为，重复使用可能会限制影响。
Dive Insight:
在饮料中使用香气来增强甜味的效果可能会使想要减少产品中的糖的制造商感兴趣。这样做可以降低其生产成本，消费者不会在产品标签上看到太多糖。根据Mintel的说法，有84％的美国消费者表示他们正在减少饮食中的糖分。
其他研究发现气味和味道之间有着密切的联系。去年，莫内尔中心研究人员报道finding odor-detecting olfactory receptors in human taste cells on the tongue and in the nose. They suggested气味和味道之间的相互作用是食物味的主要组成部分，可以从舌头而不是大脑开始。此外，2017年的调查of 1,000 European consumers found aroma to be an important part of millennials' snacking experience.
Manufacturers have long known the aroma of a food item can influence consumer purchases and增强他们的饮食经验。As they reformulate with more natural sweeteners and sugar-reduction technology, the goal has become to enhance taste without sacrificing flavor.Food giant雀巢has created"an aerated, porous sugar" that allowsa person to perceive the same level of sweetness but still consume less sugar.
Another approach from Swedish sugar-reduction specialist Bayn involvesanalyzing the smellsof sugary foods, resulting in a database of aroma molecules that can be tweaked to reduce sugar use but retain the taste. Used on a gingerbread recipe, the approach found more cinnamon, cloves or orange peel were needed to maintain texture, sweetness and taste in a lower-sugar recipe.
If the results the NIZO researchers found are confirmed in additional studies, it's possible more intense aromas will start showing up in beverages and foods in order to appeal to consumers' sense of smell and taste. Some CPG companiesare leaning on artificial means为了增强咸或甜食品的香气，以便消费者认为他们的风味更强。但是，这种方法与对更多天然成分的需求不断增长相抵触。
Nizo还指出，它正在探索是否可以在减少糖粉工作中使用“跨模式效应”。这可以更好地定义为消费者开始通过接触许多不同食物来开始将食物香气与预期的味道联系起来的趋势。
"Adding an aroma to mimic the smell of sugar-rich versions of the food increases the perceived sweetness by mere suggestion," the company said. "In other words, the brain tells us the sweetness is there, even when the sweet ingredient is not."
