title: Astringent Mouthfeel as a Consequence of Lubrication Failure.
abstract: Herein, we systematically investigate the origin of astringent mouthfeel when we eat unripe fruits, drink coffee or tea, from the perspective of lubrication by simulating the dynamic weak interaction on the tongue with model protein (mucoprotein, MP) and polyphenolic compounds (tannic acid, TA). Astringency was due to the protein-mediated lubrication failure when encountering polyphenolic molecules that normally exist, for example in unripe fruits, coffee, tea. The underlying molecular mechanism of oral tribology is widely present in nature and enables us to engineer a tongue-like polyacrylamide composite hydrogel that exhibits high TA sensitivity and to develop a scientific strategy for catching slippery fish using TA-containing gloves. These results provide novel and useful insights into the failure of biological boundary lubrication on soft tissue surface with the adsorbed proteins.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China.
authors.forename: Shuanhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry Center for Nature-inspired Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Haeshin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Yongmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China. zhouf@licp.cas.cn.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001252:Astringents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D009088:Mucoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013634:Tannins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001252:Astringents; D020100:Hydrogels; D009088:Mucoproteins; D059808:Polyphenols; D013634:Tannins
keywords: astringency; hydrogels; lubrication; mucoproteins; tannic acid