Astringency sensitivity to tannic acid: Effect of ageing and salivary proline-rich protein levels

Mei Wang; Hélène Brignot; Chantal Septier; Christophe Martin; Francis Canon; Gilles Feron

doi:10.1016/j.fochms.2023.100192

Astringency sensitivity to tannic acid: Effect of ageing and salivary proline-rich protein levels

Food Chem (Oxf). 2023 Dec 28:8:100192. doi: 10.1016/j.fochms.2023.100192. eCollection 2024 Jul 30.

Authors

Mei Wang¹, Hélène Brignot¹, Chantal Septier¹, Christophe Martin¹, Francis Canon¹, Gilles Feron¹

Affiliation

¹ Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne, F-21000 Dijon, France.

Abstract

The link between salivary composition and sensitivity to astringency as a function of age has still not been established. In this work, we propose the hypothesis that ageing leads to changes in the concentration of salivary proline-rich proteins (PRPs), which alters the astringency perception threshold with age. To test this hypothesis, astringency sensitivity to tannic acid and saliva was assessed in 30 elderly people and 24 young people. Basic PRPs (bPRPs) and glycosylated PRPs (gPRPs) were quantified immunochemically via western blot analysis. The results showed that the amounts of bPRPs and gPRPs were similar between the young and elderly groups. However, a positive correlation between the gPRP amount and astringency threshold was observed only in the young group, while a negative correlation between the bPRP amount and astringency threshold was observed only in the elderly group. This finding suggests differences in the contribution of PRP type to astringency perception as a function of age.

Keywords: Astringency; Elderly; Tannic acid; Threshold; bPRPs; gPRPs.