The need for a broad spectrum of mood modulators has stimulated research in pharmaceutical and food industries alike, though they are targeted at different levels of severity of mood changes. While antidepressants and mood-lifting agents may have commonalities, they also have differences in mechanisms of action and means of administration. The multiple roles of food and food components in maintaining cognitive health, improving mental alertness, delaying onset of memory loss and mood modulation have been recognized over the years, albeit often anecdotally. More studies are needed to establish the scientific basis of these roles and possible mechanisms of action. In this work, we present the computational characterization of compounds with mood modulation properties using principles of chemoinformatics. Comparison of the physicochemical and structural properties of flavor molecules, approved antidepressants, marketed drugs, and agents with reported antidepressant activity shows how flavors may have the potential to act as mood modulators.

Chemoinformatics exploration of flavors as mood modulators

244th National Meeting (2012)

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