What is Sensory Nutrition | Sensory Nutrition Laboratories, Co., Ltd.

01

Opening the Future of Health Through Food Sensation

Sensory Nutrition is a new academic field of food science that comprehensively explores the crosstalk among the sensory properties (taste, aroma, and other perceptions), physiological regulatory functions, and palatability of foods.

Going beyond the framework of conventional nutrition science, it offers a new approach to understanding how sensory signals in the experience of eating act upon the body and brain, and how they contribute to maintaining health.

02

Why Sensory Nutrition?

— Integrating the “three functions” of food into one —

Foods have three broad functions. Until now, these functions have been studied separately. Sensory Nutrition reframes them as a single, integrated whole.

Category	Function	Conventional View
Primary function	Nutritional function (building, maintaining, and regulating the body)	Supply of the five major nutrients
Secondary function (food sensation)	Sensory properties (tasting flavor, aroma, texture, and more)	Pursuit of deliciousness and palatability
Tertiary function	Physiological regulatory function (maintaining homeostasis and health)	Homeostatic effects of functional food components

“Tasting deliciousness” (the secondary function) and “becoming healthier” (the tertiary function) are not separate phenomena — they influence one another. Unraveling this interconnection lies at the very heart of Sensory Nutrition.

03

A Previously Unknown Mechanism: Food Sensation and the Brain-Gut Axis

— How sensory signals move the brain and the whole body —

Our recent research has revealed that signals of “food sensation” such as taste and aroma are perceived not only in the oral and nasal cavities, but also by receptors in the digestive tract (the gut).

1

Sensory reception

Food signals of taste and aroma are received not only in the mouth and nose, but in the digestive tract.

2

Transmission to the brain

The brain is directly activated via neural pathways such as the vagus and sensory nerves.

3

Regulation of physiological function

Through the brain-gut axis (two-way communication between brain and gut), homeostasis in metabolism, circulation, and immunity is regulated.

While discussion of food functionality has long focused on the relationship between the gut environment and the central nervous system, the latest research shows that the sensory properties of food components are, more directly, a key to the brain-gut axis.

Conceptual diagram of the brain-gut axis: food stimuli lead to health promotion via gut sensors, the brain, and the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems — Food sensory signals and the brain-gut axis — Health Promotion

04

Social Implementation and Mission: Food Augmentation

— Augmenting food to its fullest potential through Sensory Nutrition —

At Sensory Nutrition Laboratories, we provide databases and advance analytical approaches so that insights from Sensory Nutrition can be applied to research and product development.

01

Providing High-Precision Databases

— Consolidating the links between structure, sensation, and function —

Through Polyphenol Finder and Sweetener Finder, we provide free databases consolidating the relationships between the physicochemical properties, sensory characteristics, and physiological regulatory actions of food components.

02

Matching Domestic and International Companies Through Our Databases

Polyphenol Finder and Sweetener Finder are equipped with mechanisms that connect users with suppliers.

Learn more in For Business →

03

Globalizing Information Through Our Open Repository Initiative

We are developing an open repository to disseminate functional food information that currently remains untapped within Japan.

Learn more in For Business →

05

For Researchers and Businesses

By providing open knowledge free of charge — including our polyphenol database (Polyphenol Finder) and sweetener database (Sweetener Finder) — Sensory Nutrition Laboratories works in partnership with researchers and businesses around the world.

If you are interested in research or product development that applies Sensory Nutrition, please feel free to get in touch.

Inquiries About Sensory Nutrition

Please contact us about database access, joint research, media inquiries, and more.

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