Q 01/05

The browning reaction between amino acids and sugars that flavours seared steak is named after which chemist?

A) Louis Pasteur

B) Louis Camille Maillard

C) Antoine Lavoisier

D) Marcellin Berthelot

Answer · why

B) Louis Camille Maillard

The reaction races along at roughly 140 to 165 °C, which is why dry heat browns food and boiling never does.

Q 02/05

When sucrose caramelizes, it breaks down into which two simple sugars?

A) Lactose and maltose

B) Glucose and fructose

C) Ribose and xylose

D) Galactose and mannose

Answer · why

B) Glucose and fructose

Unlike the Maillard reaction, caramelization needs no protein at all, just sugar and heat.

Q 03/05

Which Japanese chemist identified umami as a distinct taste in 1908 after noticing the flavour of kombu?

A) Umetaro Suzuki

B) Jokichi Takamine

C) Kikunae Ikeda

D) Kenjiro Takayanagi

Answer · why

C) Kikunae Ikeda

He went on to patent monosodium glutamate, the compound behind the taste.

Q 04/05

Umami receptors respond mainly to glutamates and which other class of compounds found in meat broths?

A) Nucleotides

B) Fatty acids

C) Peptides

D) Alkaloids

Answer · why

A) Nucleotides

Researchers at the University of Miami identified umami receptors on the tongue in 2000.

Q 05/05

Which two wheat proteins form the elastic network we call gluten?

A) Albumin and globulin

B) Casein and whey

C) Gliadin and glutenin

D) Zein and hordein

Answer · why

C) Gliadin and glutenin

Gluten makes up 75 to 85 percent of the protein in bread wheat.