<p>A team at the Institute of Food Research, led by food scientist Dave Hart, believes that recent advances in nanotechnology, which deals with structures just millionths of a millimetre in size, could capture and release flavours in a precisely controlled way.<br /><br />The scientists are experimenting with creating different flavour layers, based on a 17th Century "preserve".<br /><br />The flavours are separated with a tasteless gelatine that stops them from overlapping, with a final dessert taste at the centre, encapsulated in a high-tech gel called Gellan, the 'Daily Mail' reported.<br /><br />In Roald Dahl's book 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory', Willy Wonka proudly displays a stick of Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum, which he claims can reproduce the flavours of every individual course of a full meal.<br /><br />The gum is able to convey the flavours of "tomato soup, roast beef and baked potato, and blueberry pie and ice cream", he claims.<br /><br />Hart says" "Wonka's fantasy concoction has been nothing but a dream for millions of kids across the world. But science and technology is changing the future of food, and these nanoparticles may hold the answer to creating a three course gourmet gum."<br /><br />He said that scientists at Harvard University have been working on nanostructures called colloidosomes, which can be used to capture ingredients. Their findings could be a step towards developing this gum.<br /><br />He said: "Tiny nanostructures within the gum would contain each of the different flavours. These would be broken up and released upon contact with saliva or after a certain amount of chewing.<br /><br />"The tomato soup capsule would break on contact with saliva, followed by roast beef and blueberry pie in stronger structures -- providing a sequential taste explosion as you chew harder."<br /><br />The gum would only work as a sweet, however, and would not reproduce the feeling of being full nor would it provide any vital nutrients.<br /><br /></p>
<p>A team at the Institute of Food Research, led by food scientist Dave Hart, believes that recent advances in nanotechnology, which deals with structures just millionths of a millimetre in size, could capture and release flavours in a precisely controlled way.<br /><br />The scientists are experimenting with creating different flavour layers, based on a 17th Century "preserve".<br /><br />The flavours are separated with a tasteless gelatine that stops them from overlapping, with a final dessert taste at the centre, encapsulated in a high-tech gel called Gellan, the 'Daily Mail' reported.<br /><br />In Roald Dahl's book 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory', Willy Wonka proudly displays a stick of Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum, which he claims can reproduce the flavours of every individual course of a full meal.<br /><br />The gum is able to convey the flavours of "tomato soup, roast beef and baked potato, and blueberry pie and ice cream", he claims.<br /><br />Hart says" "Wonka's fantasy concoction has been nothing but a dream for millions of kids across the world. But science and technology is changing the future of food, and these nanoparticles may hold the answer to creating a three course gourmet gum."<br /><br />He said that scientists at Harvard University have been working on nanostructures called colloidosomes, which can be used to capture ingredients. Their findings could be a step towards developing this gum.<br /><br />He said: "Tiny nanostructures within the gum would contain each of the different flavours. These would be broken up and released upon contact with saliva or after a certain amount of chewing.<br /><br />"The tomato soup capsule would break on contact with saliva, followed by roast beef and blueberry pie in stronger structures -- providing a sequential taste explosion as you chew harder."<br /><br />The gum would only work as a sweet, however, and would not reproduce the feeling of being full nor would it provide any vital nutrients.<br /><br /></p>