Foxtail millet has relatively low starch digestibility and moderate glycemic index compared to other grains. Since there are still no clinical researches regarding its long-term effect on blood glucose, this self-controlled study was conducted to investigate the glucose-lowering effect of foxtail millet in free-living subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Fifty g/day of foxtail millet was provided to enrolled subjects throughout 12 weeks and the related clinical parameters were investigated at week 0, 6 and 12, respectively. After 12 weeks of foxtail millet intervention, the mean fasting blood glucose of the subjects decreased from 5.7 ± 0.9 mmol/L to 5.3 ± 0.7 mmol/L (p < 0.001) and the mean 2 h-glucose decreased from 10.2 ± 2.6 mmol/L to 9.4 ± 2.3 mmol/L (p = 0.003). The intake of foxtail millet caused a significant increase of serum leptin (p = 0.012), decrease of insulin resistance (p = 0.007), and marginal reduction of inflammation. Furthermore, a sex-dependent difference in glucose-lowering effect of foxtail millet was observed in this study. Foxtail millet could improve the glycemic control in free-living subjects with IGT, suggesting that increasing the consumption of foxtail millet might be beneficial to individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Millet proteins have been demonstrated to possess glucose-lowering and lipid metabolic disorder modulation functions against diabetes; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying their anti-diabetic effects remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the hypoglycemic effect of prolamin from cooked foxtail millet (PCFM) on type 2 diabetic mice, and explore the gut microbiota and serum metabolic profile changes that are associated with diabetes attenuation by PCFM. Our diabetes model was established using a high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin before PCFM or saline was daily administrated by gavage for 5 weeks. The results showed that PCFM ameliorated glucose metabolism disorders associated with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the effects of PCFM administration on gut microbiota and serum metabolome were investigated. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis indicated that PCFM alleviated diabetes-related gut microbiota dysbiosis in mice. Additionally, the serum metabolomics analysis revealed that the metabolite levels disturbed by diabetes were partly altered by PCFM. Notably, the decreased D-Glucose level caused by PCFM suggested that its anti-diabetic potential can be associated with the activation of glycolysis and the inhibition of gluconeogenesis, starch and sucrose metabolism and galactose metabolism. In addition, the increased serotonin level caused by PCFM may stimulate insulin secretion by pancreatic β-cells, which contributed to its hypoglycemic effect. Taken together, our research demonstrated that the modulation of gut microbiota composition and the serum metabolomics profile was associated with the anti-diabetic effect of PCFM.

This study was designed to systematically identify novel umami peptides in lager beer, clarify their molecular interactions with the T1R1/T1R3 receptor, and determine their specific effects on multidimensional sensory attributes. The peptides were characterized by LC-MS/MS combined with de novo sequencing, and 906 valid sequences were obtained. Machine-learning models (UMPred-FRL, Tastepeptides-Meta, and Umami-MRNN) predicted 76 potential umami peptides. These candidates were docked to T1R1/T1R3 with the CDOCKER protocol, producing 57 successful complexes. Six representative peptides—KSTEL, DELIK, DIGISSK, IEKYSGA, DEVR, and PVPL—were selected for 100 ns molecular-dynamics simulations and MM/GBSA binding-energy calculations. All six peptides stably occupied the narrow cleft at the T1R1/T1R3 interface. Their binding free energies ranked as DEVR (−44.09 ± 5.47 kcal mol⁻¹) < KSTEL (−43.21 ± 3.45) < IEKYSGA (−39.60 ± 4.37) ≈ PVPL (−39.53 ± 2.52) < DELIK (−36.14 ± 3.11) < DIGISSK (−26.45 ± 4.52). Corresponding taste thresholds were 0.121, 0.217, 0.326, 0.406, 0.589, and 0.696 mmol L⁻¹ (DEVR < KSTEL < IEKYSGA < DELIK < PVPL < DIGISSK). TDA-based sensory validation with single-factor additions showed that KSTEL, DELIK, DEVR, and PVPL increased umami scores by ≈21%, ≈22%, ≈17%, and ≈11%, respectively, while DIGISSK and IEKYSGA produced marginal changes (≤2%). The short-chain peptides thus bound with high affinity to T1R1/T1R3 and improved core taste and mouthfeel but tended to amplify certain off-flavors, and the long-chain peptides caused detrimental impacts. Future formulation optimization should balance flavor enhancement and off-flavor suppression, providing a theoretical basis for targeted brewing of umami-oriented lager beer.

Pale lager dominates global beer markets. However, rising living standards and changing consumer expectations have reshaped sensory preferences, highlighting the importance of understanding consumers’ true sensory priorities. In this study, a twenty-eight-item questionnaire, refined through multiple rounds of optimization, was distributed across China and yielded 1837 valid responses. Spearman correlation analysis and partial least-squares regressions showed that educational background and spending willingness exerted the strongest independent effects on sensory priorities. A hybrid analytic hierarchy process–entropy weight method–Delphi procedure was then applied to quantify sensory attribute importance. Results indicated that drinking sensation (30.92%) emerged as the leading driver of pale lager choice, followed by taste (26.60%), aroma (24.77%), and appearance (17.71%), confirming a flavor-led and experience-oriented preference structure. Weighting patterns differed across drinking-frequency cohorts: consumers moved from reliance on overall mouthfeel, through heightened sensitivity to negative attributes, to an eventual focus on subtle hedonic details. Based on these findings, a new sensory evaluation scale was developed and validated against consumer preference rankings, showing significantly stronger alignment with consumer preferences (ρ = 0.800; τ = 0.667) than the traditional scale. The findings supply actionable metrics and decision tools for breweries, supporting applications in product development, quality monitoring, and targeted marketing.

Lager beer has the characteristics of a refreshing aroma, clean and less intense taste, as well as a low alcohol degree, which is suitable for daily drinking. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between important flavor compounds and flavor profiles for lager beer. Headspace solid-phase microextraction, solvent-assisted flavor evaporation combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-olfactometry–mass spectrometry were applied for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the trace components in lager beer. Furthermore, the recombination experiment was successfully applied to simulate the flavor profile, and the omission experiment was conducted to study the effects of flavor compounds on the flavor profile. A total of nine compounds were identified as the key flavor compounds, and their contribution to the flavor characteristics of lager beer was verified according to validation experiments. It was found that the influence of the key flavor compounds on the sensory attributes such as malty aroma, fruity aroma, sweetness, and bitterness varied with their concentration. These findings might provide ideas for the research regarding the flavor compounds and flavor profile of lager beer, and contribute to the development of different types of beer in the future.