The Role of GPR120 on the Fatty Orosensation in Humans and Sensory Characteristics of GPR120 Agonists in Low-Fat Oil-In Water (O/W) Emulsified Foods

Abstract

The addition of GPR120 agonists to vegetable oil or a fat-containing food system enhances the fatty orosensation, an oily mouth-coating sensed 5–10 s after tasting, in humans, although they have no fatty orosensation by themselves. To elucidate the role of GPR120 in the fatty orosensation in humans, the effects of GPR120 agonists and an antagonist were investigated. The addition of the GPR120 antagonist to whipped cream significantly decreased the intensity of the mouth-coating sensed at 5–10 s after tasting (p < 0.05). A descriptive sensory analysis revealed that when the potent GPR120 agonist TUG-891 was added to reduced-fat Chinese noodle (ramen) soup, significant increases were observed in the intensity of the pork fat flavor sensed 5–10 s after tasting (p < 0.01), mouth-coating sensed 0–10 s after tasting (p < 0.05), and continuity of taste (p < 0.01), while saltiness sensed 2–10 s after tasting was significantly suppressed (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the mouth-coating and thickness of taste of low-fat Ranch dressing were enhanced following the addition of TUG-891, IRM-31, and Compound BY2, which are potent GPR120 agonists. The correlation between GPR120 activity and the sensory intensities of the GPR120 agonists tested (r = 0.945, p = 0.002) indicates that GPR120 agonists enhance the fatty orosensation in humans. The present results also suggest that GPR120 agonists enhance the fatty orosensation of various low-fat oil-in-water (o/w) emulsified foods.