Factors that influence taste perception include color, texture, temperature, smell, age, disease, stress, and fatigue. Smell can affect taste and trigger memory recall, while texture can alter sweetness perception. Color can also affect taste perception, and temperature can intensify flavor. Physical conditions such as kidney disease or cancer can cause taste distortions.
Some of the factors that influence the perception of taste are the color of the food, its texture, temperature and smell. The taster’s age, whether they have a certain disease, and their level of stress and fatigue can also affect how taste is perceived. The human tongue can detect five basic tastes: salty, sweet, bitter, sour and, in 2002, added umami, a Japanese word for “delicious.” Each of these different tastes has a certain receptor on the tongue, and when a compound activates the receptor, the brain recognizes the taste. However, taste perception isn’t just influenced by the taste buds, and food scientists are studying the ways in which different factors influence the taste of different foods and drinks.
One of the best known factors of alteration of the perception of taste is the sense of smell. Simply put, the flavor of a food can be defined as the taste of the food combined with its smell. In fact, if a person has a cold that blocks the nose or another problem affecting the sense of smell, the taste of the food decreases or can become bland. Not only can smell affect taste, it can also cause memory recall. For example, a person may remember his childhood home if he smells a certain fragrance.
Texture can also be a factor affecting taste. Some studies have suggested that a thicker drink may taste less sweet or taste less intense than a thinner one, even if the sugar or flavoring concentrations were not changed. In practice, scientists and food manufacturers may be able to use this fact to reduce the amount of salt in foods without changing the taste. They may just need to alter the texture.
Another factor that influences the perception of taste is color. Studies show that a brighter or more intensely colored food can look different from a milder colored food even when there has been no change in flavor compounds. Likewise, two drinks that have the same coloring can taste the same to a person even though one is sweeter. There was even an experiment done in the 1970s where scientists allowed people to eat food that looked normal in a certain light. When the light was changed and people saw that they were eating blue steak and green chips, some of them started getting sick.
The temperature of the food can also influence the perception of taste. Hotter foods usually have a more intense flavor than cold foods even if the concentration of flavor is the same. For example, ice cream may taste sweeter when melted and beer more bitter. Similarly, coffee can be more bitter when hot, a taste you want in that particular drink. By simply cooling or heating a food, a person may be able to alter their taste experience of that food.
A person’s physical self can also influence taste perception. As a person ages, the ability to taste and smell food also decreases. Additionally, one study has shown that a person with kidney disease or cancer can experience taste distortions, called dysgeusia. A person’s stress level and physical fatigue can also affect how something tastes. One study showed that after mental exercises, some people reduced the duration and perception of bitter, sour, and sweet flavors, while the duration of sour aftertaste was reduced after exercise.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
