Sensory Profile of Kombucha Brewed with New Zealand Ingredients by Focus Group and Word Clouds

Kombucha is a yeast and bacterially fermented tea that is often described as having an acetic, fruity and sour flavour. There is a particular lack of sensory research around the use of Kombucha with additional ingredients such as those from the pepper family, or with hops. The goal of this project was to obtain a sensory profile of Kombucha beverages with a range of different ingredients, particularly of a novel Kombucha made with only Kawakawa (Piper excelsum) leaves. Other samples included hops and black pepper. Instrumental data were collected for all the Kombucha samples, and a sensory focus group of eight semi-trained panellists were set up to create a sensory profile of four products. Commercially available Kombucha, along with reference training samples were used to train the panel. Kawakawa Kombucha was found to be the sourest of the four samples and was described as having the bitterest aftertaste. The instrumental results showed that the Kawakawa Kombucha had the highest titratable acidity (1.55 vs. 1.21–1.42 mL) as well as the highest alcohol percentage (0.40 vs. 0.15–0.30%). The hops sample had the highest pH (3.72 vs. 3.49–3.54), with the lowest titratable acidity (1.21), and, from a basic poll, was the most liked of the samples. Each Kombucha had its own unique set of sensory descriptors with particular emphasis on the Kawakawa product, having unique mouthfeel descriptors as a result of some of the compounds found in Kawakawa. This research has led to a few areas that could be further studied, such as the characteristics of the Piperaceae family under fermentation and the different effects or the foaminess of the Kawakawa Kombucha, which is not fully explained.

Black markets: Fascist constructions of race in East African marketplace newsreels

This article investigates East African marketplace films to trace the developmental arc and varieties of Italian Fascist racism in empire. Totalling over 70 in number, these bantam adventures in souks and bazaars were among the most popular formats for 1930s newsreels purporting to document daily life in the colonies. The short documentary-style films were produced by LUCE, the cinematic arm for state-run propagandistic projects. Like many of the films produced by this larger cinematic body, marketplace newsreels cast Italian technology in starring roles. Tractors and sewing machines frame Italian as modernizing heroes. By focusing on visual and acoustic examples, the article examines the markets of propaganda through a sensory focus. Ultimately, this approach intertwines two modes of inquiry: the history of East African architecture and urbanism, and Fascist Italian empire film.

Dynamic Frequencies and Perceptual Binding in a Combined Auditory-Tactile Task

Two experiments examined the potential effect of perceptual binding in the auditory and tactile modalities for one stimulus parameter: dynamic frequency sweeps versus static frequencies. Experiment 1 established baseline performance for identifying a single stimulus presentation. Experiment 2 examined the effects of presenting simultaneous auditory and tactile signals while attempting to focus on a single sensory channel. Experiment 1 demonstrates that identifying the frequency sweep or static signal is relatively easy in both modalities. Experiment 2 shows the unidirectional domination of auditory signals over tactile, irrespective of sensory focus modality. Overall findings and the implications for design and directions for future research are discussed.