Anodal Electrical Stimulation Enhances the Perceived Piquancy Induced by Chili Peppers and Wasabi

Abstract

Methods for enhancing perceived piquancy are expected to improve eating satisfaction and reduce health hazards such as reflux esophagitis caused by the excessive consumption of piquant ingredients. In this study, based on the differences in receptors, we classified the perceived piquancy into three types: HOT, MINTY, and SPICY. We particularly focused on the HOT sensation, which primarily contributes to the negative health effect of eating piquant foods. We proposed a novel method to enhance the intensity of piquancy by single-pole electrical stimulation. Our proposed method uses metal cutlery as an electrode to stimulate the part of the trigeminal nerve of the tongue related to piquancy. To evaluate whether the proposed method selectively enhances the HOT sensation, we conducted psychophysical experiments and demonstrated that 1.5m A anodal single-pole electrical stimulation enhanced the HOT sensation and the SPICY sensation induced by chili peppers or wasabi. To our knowledge, this is the first study to establish a method for enhancing the perceived piquancy using only electrical stimulation.