August 2001

 

A Matter of Taste
Lynda Zimmerman, zimmermanl@missouri.edu

Delicious, scrumptious, delectable, yummy. These are just a few of the many words to describe how food tastes. Notice too, that these words can also describe smells. As you might imagine, smell and taste are often linked together.

As much as 80 percent of what we perceive as "taste" is actually smell. Humans can discern about 20,000 different odors. Smell occurs when odors reach olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity via two routes: inhalation through the nostrils and through the back of the mouth as we chew and swallow.

True taste occurs on the tongue. We are born with 10,000 taste buds located on the back, sides, and tip of the tongue, on the palate, and in the throat. Taste receptor cells within the taste buds can detect five primary sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and "umami," the savory taste of glutamate found in protein foods and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

What we commonly call the "taste" of food is really "flavor," which largely results from the interaction between the senses of both smell and taste. Other sensations from foods, such as the tingle of a hot pepper or fizz of a soda, as well as texture, temperature and appearance all add to the flavor experience

Super Tasters – An Overly Sensitive Bunch

When someone balks at eating spinach, broccoli or Brussels sprouts, it may not mean he or she is being picky. It may be a case of a "super taster," an individual whose taste buds are highly tuned in to – or turned off by – bitter compounds found in foods such as vegetables, grapefruit juice, wine, green tea, and espresso.

About 25 percent of the population is genetically programmed to be super tasters who have a sharpened ability to detect bitter compounds in food. Half the population detects these compounds to some degree, and another 25 percent don’t detect them at all. About two-thirds of super tasters are female.

What makes super tasters so sensitive to certain foods? Compared to less discriminating individuals, super tasters’ tongues are crammed with many more fungiform papillae, the little bumps on the tongue known as taste buds. Fortunately, the hypersensitivity usually fades over time.

Taste Declines With Age

"Nothing tastes good anymore," is a fairly common complaint among older people. Studies show that this is not just melancholy for the way things used to be.

Most individuals notice a decline in their senses of taste and smell by about age 60. Loss of smell is much more common than loss of taste in older people, but because the sense of smell is essential to flavor it is often perceived as a decline in taste.

Smell and taste problems may be caused by viral infections that damage the smell receptors in the nose, diseases of the nasal cavity, which includes polyps, sinusitis and allergies, and a variety of other factors such as medications, smoking, nutrient deficiencies, head trauma, brain tumors, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. As many as ten to twenty percent of cases do not have an identifiable cause.

It’s always best to get a thorough assessment by a physician if a decline in taste and smell are noted. Sometimes an underlying problem can be treated or remedied, thus restoring these senses.

Taste Tips, Tricks and Techniques

If a food doesn’t taste good, you aren’t likely to eat it. We don’t all like the same foods, or taste a particular food the same way. That’s why it’s important to balance your individualized taste preferences with health needs. Maximizing food pleasure is an essential component of healthful eating.

· Plan meals that include a wide variety of colors and shapes for eye-appeal, and a variety of textures and temperatures for tongue-appeal.

· Perk up food flavors with small amounts of intense-flavored ingredients such as sharp cheddar cheese or Romano cheese, garlic, toasted nuts or olives.

· Try a spoonful of cheese sauce, a pat of butter or a drizzle of creamy dressing to add flavor to vegetables and salad greens; spread jam or fruit butters on toast, muffins or pancakes.

· Enhance the natural favor of foods with reduced/concentrated stocks, flavored vinegars or oils, zesty condiments or an extra dash of herbs and spices.

· Minimize taste fatigue. Alternate between bites of food with different tastes, temperatures, and textures.

Self-Test: Are You a Super Taster?

Try this test to see whether you’re a super taster. Using a hole punch, punch a hole in the middle of a one-inch square of wax paper. Place the hole on the tip of your tongue. Swab some blue food coloring on the exposed part of the tongue and, using a magnifying glass and a flashlight, count the number of fugiform papillae. Super tasters will have dozens of papillae; non-tasters will have only five or six.

Sources: Food Insight, July/August 1999; Environmental Nutrition, February 2000.