FOOD LAB

MARIA PHELAN, SCIENCE GALLERY IRELAND

Food Lab provides a flavour of the biochemical processes involved in human gustation, consumption and digestion. Test out your taste buds with a tongue map and take a closer look at life maintaining macro-nutrients on a microscopic scale. Investigate how digestive enzymes in saliva can break down starches into sugars needed for energy. Find out what the average slice of bread or a potato contains and what this means in terms of nutritional support for the body. Explore the chemistry behind using yeast in baking, the science of preserving food or the role of ethylene gas in food decomposition. Food Lab plates up an interactive experience that assesses appetite regulation and food perception, from the initial aroma of a tasty morsel to its final digestion and assimilation into the body.