Food, and flavor matrix

Image credit: DANNES WEGMAN

What is Food Matrix?

In nutrition term; the food matrix contains several compounds – macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and micronutrients such as vitamins & minerals. Other complex compounds are found in certain food items; just depends on what you’re eating. Joseph from foodaidquality.org defines it as follows, “The food matrix can be defined as the nutrient and non-nutrient components of foods and their molecular relations to each other (USDA NAL Glossary, 2015). Consequently, it is of
utmost importance in food product research to develop a detailed understanding of the time-dependent transient changes in the structural aspects of food matrices from raw material harvesting to product processing, to the point of breakdown during shelf life, consumption and final digestion. Understanding the mechanism of processing or breakdown and absorption or the bioavailability of nutrients from ingested food is an important aspect while designing functionally-superior foods rather than looking at foods from the nutritional content point of view.” For example, vegetables and fruits have external factors such as the soil which they grow in. This affects the final product of the food. A cucumber bought from QFC doesn’t taste the same as the one found at the farmers market. This in turn can give a change in the nutrient availability for your body. So, we have to look at the whole picture of the food item – planting, soil, processing, packaging, and final delivery to the customer. As you can see, food matrix deals with a lot of internal and external factors. The example shown in Journal of Food and Function provides an example of food matrix, the whole picture, and how the body absorbs nutrients based on the food item eaten.

Texture, aroma + taste + mouthfeel = flavor, and milk ( plant-based vs animal)

I recommend reading my mouthfeel, smell, and taste blog; it adds to what I’m going to talk about today. I’ve been thinking of alternative milks, and how it compares to regular milk. So, I decided to look into the subject a little more.

Image credit: Dreamstime

Note: Umami is the 5th taste after bitter, sour, salty, and sweet. The savory flavor is all over the tongue. Food examples, soy sauce, miso, and Asian cooking uses it often.

Taste buds, flavors, and senses

The taste buds on your tongue detect flavors and food groups, and help you identify the foods you eat. However, other senses play a role in how we experience food. You probably know that the smell of foods can have a strong effect on how they taste, but did you know that the appearance of food also changes how we experience it? Because we usually look at food before we put it in our mouths, the very first information your brain gets about any food comes from your eyes!

Future of food, and IKEA

Check out this article:

https://www.domino.com/content/ikea-sustainable-cookbook-release/

Interesting article; talking about how IKEA developed an experimental cookbook to think about sustainable cooking & food. I would be interested to order the book & see what it is all about. The strangest thing I have ever tasted; crickets in ice cream at Salt & straw at the Seattle location. The cricket gave a crunchy texture – I didn’t really notice the cricket. Would you try bugs? I think I would give meal worms a try. I’ve also tried kelp as candy. The product was coated in sugar, and I didn’t taste the kelp that much. I thought I was eating a gummy bear. The texture was very chewy, and the taste was sweet.

Cold brew vs hot brew

History of coffee

National Coffee Association mentions that coffee was first used in Ethiopia, Middle East, then moved to Americas, and lastly Europe. It’s interesting to note; people in Europe thought it was an invention of Satan, and wanted to ban it. The pope gave it a taste before passing judgment, and he liked it so much that a papal approval was given.

Fun fact: legend has it; a goat’s herd, named Kaldi was taking care of his goats and noticed one of his goats staying up, and super hyper from eating the coffee beans (red berries).