The Pôle de Compétitivité Parfums Arômes Senteurs Saveurs (Pole PASS) has confirmed seven new research and development projects, which were submitted to different funding sources since the beginning of the year. All of the projects are part of the strategic innovation cluster.
Among the seven projects, several offer direct applications for the flavor and fragrance industry.
The Scala project, in particular, revealed that Lewis superacids showed an exceptional potential for catalytic activation of electrophilic organic substrates. The Scala project aims to use these properties to develop the synthesis of precursor molecules for perfumery.
Natural raw materials provide an endless source of compounds of high molecular diversity and this requires sophisticated technology in analytical chemistry to characterize them. The Demixnmr project uses spectral methods for nuclear magnetic resonance to analyze complex mixtures.
The Emoqualim project, a collaboration with the Pole Vitagora Taste-Nutrition-Health, aims to develop a methodology based on the analysis of emotional responses to the anticipation and consumption of food and flavors. The goal is to promote a sustainable food system that improves economic and societal levels such as quality of life/well being as well as improving the design and production of a diet.
The Olfactome project is the basis of a new strategy for quantifying the activation of odorant receptors by odor molecules, causing the sense of smell and the richness of taste perception. The group said a universal model linking molecular structure to its smell remains, although possible in principle, to be discovered.
