Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse has been shown to improve time trial performance. Although the exact mechanism remains un-established, research postulates that there are oral cavity receptors which increase neural drive. Increasing the duration of the mouth rinse could potentially increase stimulation of these receptors. The aim of the current investigation was to determine whether the duration of mouth rinse with 6.4% CHO affected 30-min self-selected cycling performance. Eleven male participants (age =24.1±3.9 years) performed three 30-min self-paced trials. On one occasion water was given as a mouth rinse for 5 s without being ingested placebo (PLA), on the other two occasions a 6.4% CHO solution was given for 5 and 10 s. Distance cycled, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion, cadence, speed and power were recorded throughout all trials. The main findings were that distance cycled during the 10-s mouth rinse trial (20.4±2.3 km) was significantly greater compared to the PLA trial (19.2±2.2 km; P<0.01). There was no difference between the 5- and 10-s trials (P=0.15). However, 10 out of 11 participants cycled further during the 5-s trial compared to PLA, and eight cycled further during the 10-s trial compared to the 5 s. In conclusion, although there was an improvement in distance cycled with the 5-s mouth rinse compared to the PLA it was only significant with 10 s suggesting a dose response to the duration of mouth rinse.

The changes in weight and quality of sugarbeet roots stored in 18 clamps, mostly in eastern England during the winters of 1992/93 to 1994/95, were studied on farms using best commercial practice. Storage usually started in early December, at about the last recommended date of harvesting, and continued until the end of the beet-processing campaign at the local sugar factory (usually in February). Random samples of beet, in open-weave nets, were either analysed at the outset or were buried in a predetermined pattern in the clamp for up to 84 days. Periodically, samples were removed from the clamps for analysis. Beet weight hardly changed but sugar was lost as a reduction in sugar concentration: this declined at c. 0·02% per day. The concentration of reducing sugars, which are important impurities, increased fourfold during storage. Most other beet quality parameters remained unchanged. Sugar and adjusted weight was lost at 0·143 and 0·187% per day respectively. This relationship was highly significant, but a relationship between sugar loss and accumulated thermal time (0·0188% per °C day) accounted for more of the variation (73%). Temperature changes within the clamps, and the differences between clamps in accumulated thermal time, were not predictable. Some clamp insulation materials appear to allow more heat to accumulate than is desirable.

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