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Objective To describe the performance characteristics and validate a folate-specific focused recall approach to estimating folate intake. Design In a cross-sectional study, folate-specific recalls were used to estimate subjects' average daily folate intake from seven days of dietary recall over a one-month period. This estimate was compared to an estimate of the average daily folate intake obtained using the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and to plasma folate and homocysteine concentrations. Subjects Subjects were women aged 21 to 47 years and were recruited from the university community. Thirty-three subjects were recruited, and 28 subjects completed the study. Intervention After an initial clinic visit, during which a baseline blood sample was collected for measurement of plasma folate and total homocysteine concentrations, subjects participated in focused dietary recall interviews by telephone and/or Internet (e-mail). At the end of the month, subjects completed the FFQ. Main outcome measures The main outcome measures were to describe how well the focused recalls were able to describe relative dietary folate intake as compared to the FFQ and if the focused recall method estimate correlated with plasma folate and homocysteine concentrations. Statistical analyses Estimated folate intakes were ranked by tertiles using the two dietary assessment approaches and the rankings were compared. The Spearman correlation test was used to compare the focused recall and the FFQ dietary data to plasma folate and homocysteine concentrations. Results Estimated folate intake inclusive of supplements was 411.4±192.8 (mean±SD) μg/day based on focused recalls and 458.5±221.5 μg/day based on the FFQ. Exclusive of supplements, estimated folate intake from the diet was 327.8±30.2 μg/day based on focused recalls and 373.5±155.6 μg/day based on the FFQ. The ranking comparison of focused recalls vs the FFQ demonstrated a concordance of 44% without supplements and 67% with supplements for the highest tertile, and 56% without supplements and 67% with supplements for the lowest tertile. Estimated folate intake based on focused recalls was correlated significantly with plasma homocysteine ( r =−0.443, P r =0.354; P =.06) concentrations. Applications A focused dietary recall approach is a useful method for collecting information on folate intake in women. Estimated folate intake based on the focused recall approach is reasonably correlated with plasma folate and total homocysteine concentrations even in this small sample of women. Accurate data on folate intake can form the basis of dietary counseling to increase intake of this important micronutrient in the target population of young women. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103:991-1000.

Vanilla ice cream with 8, 13 or 18% sucrose and 10, 14 or 18% butterfat was evaluated by descriptive analysis (DA) with 15 judges, instrumental texture measurements (ITM), and hedonic rating with 146 consumers. Increased sugar caused higher vanilla, almond, buttery, custard/eggy, sweetness, fatty, creamy, doughy and mouthcoating characteristics, and lower coolness, ice crystals, melt rate (ITM) and hardness (ITM). Increased fat caused higher buttery, custard/eggy and sweet flavor, fatty, creamy, doughy and mouthcoating texture, and lower color, ice crystals and melting rate (DA). Acceptability was positively related to the vanilla, creamy, fatty and milky characters, and negatively related to color, ice crystals and ITM hardness.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether or not parotid saliva flow is a significant determinant of flavor release from chewing gum. Cherry-flavored gum with 3 concentrations of citric acid (0.5, 1, and 2%) acting as a sialagogue was evaluated for sweetness and cherry flavor in duplicate by 13 subjects, using a computerized system for simultaneous time-intensity (TI) measurements and unilateral collection of parotid saliva. With increased acidity in the gum, maximum intensity of, and area under, the cherry flavor curve increased (p < 0.001), whereas total duration of sweetness decreased (p < 0.05). Large interindividual differences were found for parotid saliva flow in response to chewing gum. Mean unilateral parotid saliva flows in response to stimulation with water and gum with 0.5, 1, and 2% citric acid were 0.07, 0.30, 0.36, and 0.44 g/min, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between saliva flow and time to reach maximum intensity of sweetness (p < 0.05) and of cherry flavor (p < 0.01), with "high-flow" subjects taking longer to reach maximum intensity than "low-flow" subjects for both attributes. We conclude that parotid saliva flow may affect the rate of flavor release, but not how much nor for how long flavor is released.

University students (73 men and 73 women) tasted and rated on a nine-point hedonic scale the texture and mouthfeel, flavor (taste and odor), and overall degree of liking for nine samples of vanilla ice cream varying in sugar (8.94 to 18.81%, wt/wt) and fat (8.73 to 19.30%, wt/wt) contents. Sugar consisted of 6% corn syrup solids [36 DE (dextrose equivalent)]; the balance was sucrose. Hedonic ratings differed significantly among samples, and the best-liked sample for texture and mouthfeel, flavor, and overall degree of liking contained 13.54% sugar and 14.99% fat. Men and women differed significantly in their liking of the flavor of the samples; men rated the flavor of the ice creams higher than did women. There was no gender difference for degree of liking of texture and mouthfeel or for overall degree of liking. Response surface methodology was used to relate hedonic ratings to sugar and fat percentages in the ice cream. Dome-shaped response surfaces were obtained for all three degree of liking parameters, and optimal sugar and fat, respectively, were 13.16% and 14.02% for degree of liking of texture and mouthfeel, 14.07% and 15.35% for degree of liking of flavor, and 14.30% and 14.77% for overall degree of liking. The response surfaces indicated that the level of sugar had a greater effect on all hedonic measures than did fat.

Reducing the concentration of polyamines (spermine, spermidine, and putrescine) in the body pool may slow the cancer process. Because dietary spermine, spermidine, and putrescine contribute to the body pool of polyamines, quantifying them in the diet is important. Limited information about polyamine content of food is available, especially for diets in the United States. This brief report describes the development of a polyamine database linked to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Values for spermine, spermidine, and putrescine were calculated and reported per serving size (nmol/serving). Of the foods from the database that were evaluated, fresh and frozen corn contain the highest levels of putrescine (560,000 nmol/serving and 902,880 nmol/serving) and spermidine (137,682 nmol/serving and 221,111 nmol/serving), and green pea soup contains the highest concentration of spermine (36,988 nmol/serving). The polyamine database and FFQ were tested with a convenience sample (n=165). Average daily polyamine intakes from the sample were: 159,133 nmol/day putrescine, 54,697 nmol/day spermidine, and 35,698 nmol/day spermine. Orange and grapefruit juices contributed the greatest amount of putrescine (44,441 nmol/day) to the diet. Green peas contributed the greatest amount of spermidine (3,283 nmol/day) and ground meat contributed the greatest amount of spermine (2,186 nmol/day). Development of this database linked to an FFQ provides a means of estimating polyamine intake and contributes to investigations relating polyamines to cancer.

The relation between consumption of beer, alcohol, and bitter substances was investigated by comparing 20 each of male adults, low users (720 ml/week) and high users (3.61/week) of beer for sensitivity to and like/dislike for the bitterness of isohumulones. Intake of beer, alcohol, and bitter substances was measured with a food frequency questionnaire and a 14-day recall journal. Intake of alcohol (including alcohol from sources other than beer) and bitter substances was higher for high users of beer than for low users. The average bitterness units (BUs) in the beers consumed by the two groups did not differ, indicating that high users do not consume more bitter beers than low users. Detection thresholds for isohumulones in water did not differ between the two groups, but high users had higher difference thresholds for isohumulones in beer (p0.10). In time-intensity measurements of bitterness in beer, low users of beer recorded significantly higher maximum intensities (p0.001) and shorter total durations (p0.001) than high users, with no difference between the two groups for time to maximum intensity and area under the TI curve. There was no significant difference between the two groups for BUs of beers produced by ad lib mixing of low- and high-bitterness beers, or for mean hedonic ratings of various concentrations of isohumulones in beer. These results suggest that intakes of beer, alcohol, and bitter substances are not major determinants of taste responses to the bitterness of isohumulones.

Psychophysical experiments were conducted to determine whether isohumulones share a common receptor mechanism with other bitter compounds, and whether parotid saliva flow affects perception of their bitterness. Findings from a study of inter-individual differences in sensitivity to 23 sweet and/or bitter compounds among 25 subjects using the time-intensity (TI) method suggest that isohumulone and tetrahydroisohumulone may share a common receptor mechanism with other bitter compounds except those with the thiourea moiety. Isohumulone and tetrahydroisohumulone displayed a unique dome-shaped TI profile. The bitterness of the two compounds took longer to develop, but it lasted as long as for other bitter stimuli. In a study of the relation between perception of bitterness in beer and parotid saliva flow in 20 young adults, no significant difference was found among the mean saliva flows triggered by 0, 15 and 30 mg/L of isohumulones added to beer, and no significant correlation was found between saliva flow and maximum intensity or total duration of bitterness.