FOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Flavour
Flavor
We eat food not only because we need to, but also
because we enjoy it, and this is at least in part down
to its flavor. Flavor is a combination of the taste and
smell of food, which combine with input from our
other senses to produce a pleasurable experience.
What gives food flavor?
You detect smell when volatile chemicals travel into your nose—
either before you eat the food or when it is in your mouth. At the
same time, the tongue and mouth detect five basic tastes, which
combine with the smell to produce flavor. Other senses contribute
too—touch and hearing tell you about the food’s texture. Even the
color of a food can impact how we perceive flavor—
a study showed that changing the color of
orange squash affected people’s ability
to identify its flavor correctly.
Recently, receptors have been found on our tongues
that bind to fatty acids, producing a taste of “fattiness.”
Whether this is a true sixth taste is still under debate.
Another recent study suggested
humans can also taste starch,
but a receptor has not yet been
found. Oil-fried chunky fries
may trigger both of these
proposed new classes of taste.
“NEW” TASTES
MANGO
STRIPS
DRIED
SHRIMP
FRIES
COULD THERE BE
UNDISCOVERED TASTES?
It is quite likely; some argue
that metallic tastes are a
separate category, while
calcium’s chalky taste can
be detected by mice and
possibly humans, too.
V
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Sour
Vietnamese dipping sauce
uses a mixture of sour lime juice,
salty fish sauce, and sweet palm
sugar, along with garlic and chili, to
activate almost all the receptors on
your tongue at once. Sour tastes are
produced when taste buds detect
hydrogen ions. These come from
acidic foods such as fruits
and vinegar.
Umami
Umami is the most recently
discovered of the basic tastes—
the name is Japanese, and it roughly
translates as “savory.” Glutamic acid
in foods is detected as umami and it is
found in high quantities in fermented
and aged foods such as dried
shrimp, soy sauce, and
Parmesan cheese.
Sweet
Another of the basic tastes is
sweetness. Your sweet receptors
respond to sugars such as fructose
(in fruit) and sucrose (table sugar).
Some artificial sweeteners, such
as aspartame, taste much sweeter
than sugar, meaning you can
use less in foods.
US_016-017_Flavour.indd 16 18/01/2017 09:40
16
FOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Flavor
17
Smell and flavor
The smell of food can be different
from its taste, despite most of a
food’s flavor coming from its smell.
This is because when food is in
our mouth, scent molecules travel
up the back of the throat rather
than through the nose (see p.19).
This changes which molecules we
detect, and in what order, creating
a difference in the scent perceived.
This is particularly noticeable in
coffee and chocolate.
Non-taste sensations
In addition to the five basic tastes, our tongues
and mouths can detect some other sensations
that are not classified as tastes. Nerves on the
tongue detect temperature, touch, and pain,
and foods that activate these nerves
produce specific sensations. For example,
the carbon dioxide in carbonated drinks
doesn’t only activate our sour taste
receptors. Its bubbles also cause touch
receptors to fire. The two combine to
produce the fizzy sensation.
VIETNAMESE
TEA
SPRING ROLLS
COFFEE
CHOCOLATE
EXPLANATION
Astringent
Cooling
Spiciness
Numbness
Chemicals in tea and unripe fruit cause a
puckering sensation of the mucous membrane
and disrupt the saliva film, making the mouth
feel dry and rough.
Menthol in mint sensitizes the cold receptors on
your tongue, giving a cool, refreshing sensation.
Capsaicin chemicals in chili stimulate pain
and heat receptors on the tongue, causing
a burning feeling.
There is a disagreement as to the cause, but
Sichuan pepper produces numbness or a tingling
sensation, possibly by stimulating light touch
receptors.
SENSATION
TOMATOES RELEASE 222
VOLATILE CHEMICALS
THAT GIVE THEM
THEIR FLAVOR
S
A
L
T
E
D
P
E
A
N
U
T
S
V
I
E
T
N
A
M
E
S
E
T
E
A
Bitter
Children often find bitter
foods unpleasant, but many
adults enjoy bitter tastes such as tea
(including green tea), coffee, and dark
chocolate. It is the most sensitive taste,
probably because it evolved to
prevent us from eating bitter-
tasting poisonous plants.
Salty
Table salt is sodium chloride,
and we have sensors in our
mouths that detect sodium ions.
They are also triggered (though
less strongly) by closely related
atoms, including potassium.
US_016-017_Flavour.indd 17 23/02/2017 11:26
16
FOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Flavor
17
Smell and flavor
The smell of food can be different
from its taste, despite most of a
food’s flavor coming from its smell.
This is because when food is in
our mouth, scent molecules travel
up the back of the throat rather
than through the nose (see p.19).
This changes which molecules we
detect, and in what order, creating
a difference in the scent perceived.
This is particularly noticeable in
coffee and chocolate.
Non-taste sensations
In addition to the five basic tastes, our tongues
and mouths can detect some other sensations
that are not classified as tastes. Nerves on the
tongue detect temperature, touch, and pain,
and foods that activate these nerves
produce specific sensations. For example,
the carbon dioxide in carbonated drinks
doesn’t only activate our sour taste
receptors. Its bubbles also cause touch
receptors to fire. The two combine to
produce the fizzy sensation.
VIETNAMESE
TEA
SPRING ROLLS
COFFEE
CHOCOLATE
EXPLANATION
Astringent
Cooling
Spiciness
Numbness
Chemicals in tea and unripe fruit cause a
puckering sensation of the mucous membrane
and disrupt the saliva film, making the mouth
feel dry and rough.
Menthol in mint sensitizes the cold receptors on
your tongue, giving a cool, refreshing sensation.
Capsaicin chemicals in chili stimulate pain
and heat receptors on the tongue, causing
a burning feeling.
There is a disagreement as to the cause, but
Sichuan pepper produces numbness or a tingling
sensation, possibly by stimulating light touch
receptors.
SENSATION
TOMATOES RELEASE 222
VOLATILE CHEMICALS
THAT GIVE THEM
THEIR FLAVOR
S
A
L
T
E
D
P
E
A
N
U
T
S
V
I
E
T
N
A
M
E
S
E
T
E
A
Bitter
Children often find bitter
foods unpleasant, but many
adults enjoy bitter tastes such as tea
(including green tea), coffee, and dark
chocolate. It is the most sensitive taste,
probably because it evolved to
prevent us from eating bitter-
tasting poisonous plants.
Salty
Table salt is sodium chloride,
and we have sensors in our
mouths that detect sodium ions.
They are also triggered (though
less strongly) by closely related
atoms, including potassium.
US_016-017_Flavour.indd 17 23/02/2017 11:26
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