Variables That Affect Flavor Perception
- Several common conditions can cause uncharacteristic flavor perceptions. They include a phantom taste, which can remain in your mouth even when you're not eating. Hypogeusia is a condition in which the taste buds' ability to process the four flavors reduces. A third condition, called Dysgeusia leaves people with metallic or nasty persistent tastes in their mouth, sometime accompanied by pain. If you experience any of these symptoms, please consult your personal physician.
- A great deal of what we taste comes from our sense of smell. We smell food before consuming it, to make sure it's safe, or to check its freshness. When we eat something, the smell sets up mental anticipation about the flavor that follows. As we consume food, the smell continues to travel to the olfactory bulb, which translates the flavor to your brain. This is why, when people have a cold or difficulty breathing through their nose, they also find food doesn't taste as good.
- It has been said that people eat with their eyes, which is why fine chefs put time and effort into making food look as good as it tastes. When we see specific foods, it creates a specific taste anticipation. For example; we expect watermelon to taste like watermelon, not like an orange. However, studies observed by the editors of Food & Wine Magazine say our eyes can fool our flavor perception. People who drank white wine-colored red described the wine in terms of common red wine characteristics. This happens when our mental signals jump pathways, evoking the sense of taste, and vary based on a presumption.
- Smoking negatively impacts the way a person experiences taste. On-going smoking inhibits certain receptors in taste buds. This means, quite simply, that food doesn't taste as good any more. The general bitterness of nicotine changes food profiles, as does the fact that the smoker smells smoke, either tarnishing or decreasing their sense of taste.
- The way in which individuals perceive flavor depends heavily upon pairing. Think of wine and cheese. Pairing the right wine with the right cheese improves the flavor and enjoyment of both. This is true with spice pairing, and the general way in which we mix food together. The better the final aroma of these pairings, the better the meal tastes too.
