Cooked Blueberries Taste Different – Why?

Chemistry, Food
Moderate heating of most single chemical compounds simply raises their temperature. Perhaps there may be an accompanying change of state. Thus ice if heated forms liquid water. But with increased heat, compounds can be made to break down. For instance, sugar melts and caramelizes. Biological systems, such as fruits, may experience cell wall breakdown and a number of chemical changes. Consider one example: cooked blueberries taste different from raw blueberries. Why is that? Relevant Blueberry Chemistry Much of the blueberry chemistry relevant to our discussion stems from compounds containing the same skeletal structure, that of the molecule flavone. Flavone has two rings: one large, one small. The larger ring includes an ether linkage (–C–O–C–) and a ketone group (–C–(C=O)–C–). The compounds as a group are the flavonoids. [caption id="attachment_19735" align="alignleft"…
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