Appetite-enhancing effects of vanilla flavours such as vanillin

Abstract

Vanilla flavour is familiar to consumers through foods, cosmetics, household products and some medicines. Vanilla flavouring agents typically contain vanillin or its analogue ethyl vanillin. Our previous study revealed that the inhalation of eugenol, which contains a vanillyl group, has an appetite-enhancing effect, and the inhalation of aroma compounds containing the vanillyl group or its analogues led to increased food intake in mice. Here, we found that vanillin, ethyl vanillin and eugenol showed appetite-enhancing effects, whereas isoeugenol and safrole did not. These results suggest that the appetite-enhancing effects could be attributable to the vanillyl group and could be affected by the position of the double bond in the aliphatic chain. Furthermore, the results of intraperitoneal administration of eugenol and vanillin suggest that their appetite-enhancing effects could occur via stimulation of olfactory receptors.

Modulation of NADPH oxidase and Nrf2/HO-1 pathway by vanillin in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

“…Previous studies reported that CP can induce gastrointestinal toxicity, [ 33 ] but vanillin can abolish the CP‐induced gastrointestinal toxicity and can enhance appetite. [ 34 ] Putting together, these effects might therefore explain the results of body weight gain seen in our study.…”

Vanillin Alleviates High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity and Improves the Gut Microbiota Composition

“…Vanillin exists naturally in various plants and can be produced by microbes from cinnamic acids ( Liao et al, 2013 ). Although vanillin is often used as a flavor compound in the food industry, experiments demonstrate that it can also enhance appetite ( Ogawa et al, 2018 ) and alleviate inflammation ( Cheng et al, 2017 ) and anxiety ( Wang et al, 2017 ). The hypoxia state of the large intestine is crucial in maintaining optimal health in mammals.…”

Vanillin Activates Human Bitter Taste Receptors TAS2R14, TAS2R20, and TAS2R39

“…Vanillin has shown to have anticancer activity and to regulate inflammatory response and oxidative stress (6,7), and to be a powerful antimicrobial (8), also suitable to innovative application as in arthroplasty implants (9). Recently vanillin has proven to have appetite-enhancing effect (10) and to improve the gut microbiota composition on mice (11).…”