Whenever you pass by the bakery, you will always smell a burst of aroma, which is even more ** in the cold winter. But when I entered, I found that the aroma did not come from the bread.
The topic of bakery fragrance fake appeared on the hot search and sparked heated discussions|Source: Guangzhou Radio and Television Station.
Is the smell of the bakery fake? Why is that? Today we're going to **.
Where does the smell of bread come from?
The strong aroma of freshly baked bread is mainly due to substances such as bacteria, yeast fermented dough and sugar, which are heated to produce a chemical reaction that produces a series of compounds with caramel, burnt, alcohol and sweet smells.
Source|Photo.com.
However, within a few hours of baking, the moisture and alcohol in the bread gradually evaporate, and these compounds will slowly dissipate, and the bread will not smell so good.
During the baking process, the sugars and proteins in the bread react with each other to produce a range of compoundsSource: Photo.com.
Therefore, in order to attract customers, some bakeries have to use a special method called bread aroma in addition to baking bread from oven to oven.
Bread aromatherapy product reviews|Source: Vista Hydrogen Business.
Food fragrance is to grasp the compound with a specific taste in order to restore the taste of food. Fragrances are often made up of a complex class of organic compounds, such as pyrazines, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and phenolic compounds. You may think it tastes strange when you take one of them alone, but when you mix them skillfully, you can get the familiar taste of bread.
Like common perfumes and aromatherapy, food fragrances also dissolve fragrances in volatile solvents, and fragrances will be slowly released as the solvent volatilizes, and aromas are produced.
Smell is a signal obtained by humans through the comprehensive processing of a series of organs and tissues. The human nose contains about 40 million olfactory cells, each of which has a protruding hair-like structure called "olfactory hair", which contains a large number of receptors that can capture the odorous molecule and generate nerve signals, which are processed in our brain through nerve conduction and combined to form the smell we smell.
Why use food fragrance?
For other foods that also have a certain taste and tend to loosen, the seller may consider using fragrance to attract more customers. In addition to bread, coffee, popcorn and other foods can be imitated "vividly" by the fragrance.
In today's popularity of pre-made dishes, many diners will still pursue "pot gas", so some businesses have launched "pot gas flavor" to supplement the olfactory experience.
Source|**In recent years, there has been an increasing variety of food fragrances. So the question is, is the taste of food really that important? The answer is yes, humans are very sensitive to "fragrance".
Compared to other senses, smell is one of the most special: it is the only one that can reach the emotional and memory centers of the brain. While other senses are transmitted to the brain after perceiving external objects, they must first pass through the thalamus and then transmit to the brain, while the sense of smell does not need to be detoured, and the signals from the olfactory cells can directly reach the amygdala and hippocampus of the brain, which are responsible for processing emotions and memory learning, respectively.
Therefore, when we smell a familiar smell again, the amygdala evokes emotions, and the hippocampus causes memories to come flooding back, which makes "smell" closely related to "emotion" and "memory". For some people with Alzheimer's disease, the familiar smell can even remind them of the past!
Alzheimer's disease is a common brain disorder that is associated with neurodegenerationSource: Photo.com.
So, as a "distance" stimulus, just by smelling it, your brain recalls the joy you felt when you ate bread and its sweet taste, making you hungry.
Are food fragrances harmful to humans?
Bread forms a loose and porous structure during the fermentation process, which makes it act like a filter that absorbs flavors, so it is also used to absorb odors in the refrigerator.
Source|Photo.com.
Then you can't help but wonder, since bread can absorb flavor, then won't it also absorb fragrance, can this kind of bread still be eaten?
While the ingredients of fragrances on the market are not disclosed, food fragrances simply capture specific compounds (collectively known as "flavors") that can be volatilized from food and captured and identified by the nose, and even without these compounds, food will produce exactly the same substance during processing. This also means that as long as it is used at a normal concentration, it will not cause harm to the human body and can be eaten with confidence.
Of course, like perfume, the concentration that everyone can accept is not consistent. This is because everyone has a different number of olfactory cells and olfactory hairs in their nose, so they are not the same as they are sensitive to different tastes, and the same smell may excite one person and be indifferent to another.
Perfume can bring fragrance, but if you spray too much, the smell will become pungent||Source: Photo.com.
So, the next time you smell the smell of the bakery, it's better to see if they have freshly baked bread.
References. 1] Li Wenhai, The Color and Taste of Bread [J] Guangdong: Guangzhou Sugar Company, 1994
2]brann d h, datta s r. finding the brain in the nose[j]. annual review of neuroscience, 2020, 43: 277-295.
3]velayudhan l, lovestone s. smell identification test as a treatment response marker in patients with alzheimer disease receiving donepezil[j]. journal of clinical psychopharmacology, 2009, 29(4): 387-390.
Author: Wu Erping, member of Shanghai Science Writers Association and Chinese Chemical Society.
Edit: One person white.
Acknowledgement: Yang Wu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University; Mengping Jiang, Ph.D., Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Neuroscience) provides scientific guidance for this paper.
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Edit: Snow Shadow.