Flavor

Appearance may be the first contact customers have with food, but taste (flavor) of food is what they remember. Taste is the everyday word for flavor, but to the scientist, taste is only one small part of what is meant by flavor. Flavor includes the basic tastes, smell, and trigeminal effects (chemical feeling factors). These three sensations occur when food molecules (chemicals) stimulate receptors throughout the mouth and nose. Because of the chemical nature of these sensations, the three sensory systems that perceive them are called chemical sensory systems. Table 4.1 summarizes information about the three components of flavor and their related sensory systems. Notice that each of these components—basic tastes, smell, and trigeminal effects—is distinctly different. Each is stimulated by different chemicals. Each is detected by different receptors. Yet they occur simultaneously, and they also occur at the same time that the brain evaluates appearance and texture. No wonder sensory evaluation is a challenge, one that requires practice and concentration.