The heat is on: Consumers modify their oral processing behavior when eating spicy foods

Cong Lyu; Marlotte Vonk; John E Hayes; Jianshe Chen; Ciarán G Forde; Markus Stieger

doi:10.1016/j.crfs.2023.100597

The heat is on: Consumers modify their oral processing behavior when eating spicy foods

Curr Res Food Sci. 2023 Sep 29:7:100597. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2023.100597. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Cong Lyu¹, Marlotte Vonk¹, John E Hayes², Jianshe Chen³, Ciarán G Forde¹, Markus Stieger^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands.
² Sensory Evaluation Center, Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, 220 Food Science Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
³ Laboratory of Food Oral Processing, School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Food Quality and Design, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Food texture properties and consumer characteristics influence oral processing behaviors. Little is known about oral processing behavior of pungent spicy foods. In two experiments, we investigated how adding ground dried chilies to tomato soup or beef patties and curried rice altered oral processing behaviors. In Experiment One, tomato soups differing in concentration of added ground dried chilies (0.01, 0.03, 0.20 or 0.40% w/w) were consumed (n = 23). In Experiment Two, lunch meals that differed in added ground dried chilies consisting of beef patties (0.0, 0.6 or 1.2% w/w) and curried rice (0.0, 0.4 or 1.0% w/w) were consumed (n = 49). Sip/bite sizes were determined using hidden balances. Oral processing behavior was quantified using video recordings followed by post hoc annotations of specific behaviors. When eating tomato soup, increasing oral burn was associated with increasing number of water sips, water intake and total time between sips. For the solid meals (beef patties and curried rice), increasing oral burn was associated with increased time between bites and total sips of water; conversely, total oral exposure time, total number of chews and number of chews per bite all decreased with greater burn. Saliva content and rate of saliva incorporation into the solid food bolus increased with added ground dried chilies while oral exposure time decreased. We conclude consumers adapt their oral processing behaviors to oral burn of solid foods by reducing oro-sensory exposure time, chewing bites less, increasing time between bites, and consuming more water, potentially to mitigate the discomfort associated with the burn imparted by ground dried chilies.

Keywords: Chemesthesis; Chili pepper intake; Eating behavior; Food oral processing; Rate-all-that-apply.