Get a Taste of the Science Behind Taste

Newswise, August 19, 2015 — Whether we’re eating breakfast, lunch, dinner or a bedtime snack, taste is something we experience every day. However, we rarely pause to think about the science behind why something tastes good or bad, or why we may like certain things others don’t. Robin Dando, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, specifically researches taste and answers the following questions about the science behind taste.
Q: How do people decide whether or not something tastes good?
A: Eating triggers inputs from all five senses, not just from taste. Taste is influenced by smell, vision and the sound of the food as we eat it. Additionally, touch receptors in the mouth and tongue tell us how crispy, crunchy, or pleasing the texture is. All of these signals put together inside of the brain make a decision about if we find the food pleasing or not. 
Q: How can one food taste good to one person and bad to another?
A: Each person appreciates foods differently. People have different sensitivities to tastes and to smells and are brought up differently. This means consumers have different experiences when eating foods. For instance, being brought up in a home where spicy foods were commonly eaten would probably mean they would enjoy spicy foods more than someone who was brought up differently.
Q: How does a person’s sense of taste develop or change over time?
A: Children are very sensitive to bitter tastes, which is one of the reasons they don’t like vegetables as much as adults do. Children also enjoy intense levels of sweet, sourness and saltiness that perhaps adults wouldn’t. This matures as people age because they get an appreciation for more complex tastes as opposed to something that’s intensely sweet. As people get older, taste and smell starts to decline, which means they’re not as sensitive to certain tastes.
Q: What physiological factors impact taste?
A: Taste can be affected by things from both the outside world and from within the body. Foods can taste differently if they’re presented on a different dish or with a food dye that doesn’t taste of anything in particular. Those would be considered outside influences. Within the body, there are circulating hormones that have receptors inside of the taste buds. This means that when these particular hormones or high or low, it influences how people taste things.
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