Sensory characterization of the irritant properties of oleocanthal, a natural anti-inflammatory agent in extra virgin olive oils

Cicerale S, Breslin PA, Beauchamp GK, Keast RS · Chemical Senses

Characterises the throat sting itself, and finds it localised to the throat rather than distributed across the mouth — which is what makes it usable as a rough at-home assay: the peppery cough an oil provokes tracks its oleocanthal content.

Population

Human sensory panels, 180 adults across four experiments, most of them women

Intervention

Oleocanthal at varying concentrations

Comparator

Other irritants

Limitations

Sensory science. It says nothing about health outcomes, and pungency is a proxy for one compound among many in the oil. Oleocanthal ratings were less reproducible than the control stimuli (test-retest r = 0.61). University-funded.