Chemosensory Perception 

About: Chemosensory Perception is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Odor & Olfaction. It has an ISSN identifier of 1936-5802. Over the lifetime, 294 publications have been published receiving 6233 citations. The journal is also known as: Chem. Percept..

Does Food Color Influence Taste and Flavor Perception in Humans

Abstract: In this paper, we review the empirical literature concerning the important question of whether or not food color influences taste and flavor perception in humans. Although a superficial reading of the literature on this topic would appear to give a somewhat mixed answer, we argue that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that many researchers have failed to distinguish between two qualitatively distinct research questions. The first concerns the role that food coloring plays in the perception of the intensity of a particular flavor (e.g., strawberry, banana, etc.) or taste attribute (e.g., sweetness, saltiness, etc.). The second concerns the role that food coloring plays in the perception of flavor identity. The empirical evidence regarding the first question is currently rather ambiguous. While some researchers have reported a significant crossmodal effect of changing the intensity of a food or drink’s coloring on people’s judgments of taste or flavor intensity, many others have failed to demonstrate any such effect. By contrast, the research findings concerning the second question clearly support the view that people’s judgments of flavor identity are often affected by the changing of a food or drink’s color (be it appropriate, inappropriate, or absent). We discuss the possible mechanisms underlying these crossmodal effects and suggest some of the key directions for future research in order to move our understanding in this area forward.

Food Acceptance: The Role of Consumer Perception and Attitudes

Abstract: The process by which man accepts or rejects food is of a multi-dimensional nature. In complex food matrices, it is not always easy to establish relationships between the individual chemical stimuli concentration, physiological perception, and consumer reaction. Consumers’ responses to food are not only based on the sensory characteristics of the product and on their physiological status but they are also related to other factors, such as previous information acquired about the product, their past experience, and their attitudes and beliefs. This paper discusses different methods to obtain information about consumer perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations.

Masking Bitter Taste by Molecules

Abstract: Combating bitter taste in food, pharmaceuticals, and beverages remains a huge challenge. In the past, bitterness reduction was focused on pharmaceuticals and drugs; however, more recently, the most intense research is performed on the reduction of bitter or astringent taste in functional food or beverage applications. These foods and beverages possess inherent off-tastes due to fortification with healthy but poor-tasting actives. During the last 10 years, tremendous progress in the elucidation of bitter taste reception and transduction on the cellular level was made and many new molecules and compounds to reduce bitter off-tastes were reported. The following review will be focused on the advances, in the area of bitter-masking molecules, during the last 10 years. It will not cover other debittering strategies such as process optimization or biotransformations to reduce the amount of bitter ingredients, encapsulation, and other physical formulation technologies. The review will close with a short comparative study of various bitter maskers and some suggestions for flavor development of poor-tasting ingredients.

Vegetable Intake in College-Aged Adults Is Explained by Oral Sensory Phenotypes and TAS2R38 Genotype.

Abstract: Taste and oral sensations vary in humans. Some of this variation has a genetic basis, and two commonly measured phenotypes are the bitterness of propylthiouracil (PROP) and the number of fungiform papillae on the anterior tongue. While the genetic control of fungiform papilla is unclear, PROP bitterness associates with allelic variation in the taste receptor gene, TAS2R38. The two common alleles are AVI and PAV (proline, alanine, valine, and isoleucine); AVI/AVI homozygotes taste PROP as less bitter than heterozygous or homozygous PAV carriers. In this laboratory-based study, we determined whether taste of a bitter probe (quinine) and vegetable intake varied by taste phenotypes and TAS2R38 genotype in healthy adults (mean age=26 years). Vegetable intake was assessed via two validated, complementary methods: food records (Food Pyramid servings standardized to energy intake) and food frequency questionnaire (general intake question and composite vegetable groups). Quinine bitterness varied with phenotypes but not TAS2R38; quinine was more bitter to those who tasted PROP as more bitter or had more papillae. Nontasters by phenotype or genotype reported greater consumption of vegetables, regardless of type (i.e., the effect generalized to all vegetables and was not restricted to those typically thought of as being bitter). Furthermore, nontasters with more papillae reported greater vegetable consumption than nontasters with fewer papillae, suggesting that when bitterness does not predominate, more papillae enhance vegetable liking. These findings suggest that genetic variation in taste, measured by multiple phenotypes or TAS2R38 genotype, can explain differences in overall consumption of vegetables, and this was not restricted to vegetables that are predominantly bitter.

The Influence of Color and Label Information on Flavor Perception

Abstract: Previous research that has manipulated either the color of, or labeling information associated with, foods and beverages has shown that each of these factors can significantly influence perceptual and preferential responses to them. The present study examined how the simultaneous manipulation of these two cues (color and label) affects perception of, and hedonic responses to, flavor. Thirty participants rated 12 chocolate M&Ms (identical aside from their color), described as coming from a “new line of chocolate products,” for the intensity of their chocolate flavors (“chocolatey-ness”) and their hedonic qualities (“likeability”). In the color-only condition, sighted participants received two green and two brown M&Ms. In the label-only condition, blindfolded participants received two M&Ms that were labeled as being from a “milk chocolate category” and two M&Ms that were labeled as being from a “dark chocolate category.” In the color–label condition, sighted participants received an M&M of each of the four possible color–label combinations. The participants rated brown M&Ms as being significantly more chocolatey than green M&Ms and “dark chocolate”-labeled M&Ms as being significantly more chocolatey than “milk chocolate”-labeled ones. No such effects were observed for the likability data. There was no interaction between the color and label factors. These results illustrate that flavor perception involves the combining of chemosensory information with both visual (color) information and cognitive, expectancy-based (label) inputs.