Abstract
Taste, flavor, and color of foodstuffs and beverages of humans are dominated by secondary products. They attract and repel human beings in the same way as other vertebrates (E 5.5.3). Most attractive qualities for humans are sweetness and aroma, repellent are sharpness, bitterness, and astringency. But attractiveness or repellence is strongly dose-dependent, as may be seen with the flavoring sulfur compounds of garlic, which are attractive in trace amounts, but repellent if present in higher quantities, or with beverages which are especially attractive if possessing a suitable balance between sweet, acidic, and astringent, e.g., wines.
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References for Further Reading
Harborne, J. B.: Introduction to Ecological Biochemistry. Academic Press, New York 1982
Ohloff, G.: Recent developments in the fields of naturally occurring aroma components. Prog. Chem. Org. Nat. Prod. 35, 431–527 (1978)
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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Luckner, M. (1984). Food Preferences of Man. In: Secondary Metabolism in Microorganisms, Plants and Animals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02384-6_43
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02384-6_43
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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