Retronasal aroma allows feature extraction from taste of a traditional Japanese confection

Naomi Gotow,Tatsu Kobayakawa,Takefumi Kobayashi

doi:10.1186/2044-7248-2-26

Naomi Gotow, Tatsu Kobayakawa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/2044-7248-2-26

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Abstract

Abstract Background Common foods consist of several taste qualities. Consumers perceive intensity of a particular taste quality after noticing it among other taste qualities when they eat common foods. We supposed that while one is eating the facility for noticing a taste quality present in a common food will differ among taste qualities which compose the common food. We, therefore, proposed a new measurement scale for food perception named ‘noticeability’. Furthermore, we found that consumers’ food perceptions to common foods were modified by retronasal aroma. In this study, in order to examine whether retronasal aroma affects the relationship between noticeability and perceived intensity for taste, we evaluated participants for noticeability and perceived intensity of five fundamental taste qualities (sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness, and umami) under open and closed nostril conditions using one of the most popular traditional Japanese confections called ‘yokan’. Results The taste quality showed that the highest noticeability and perceived intensity among five fundamental taste qualities for yokan was sweetness, independent of the nostril condition. For sweetness, a significant decrease of correlation between noticeability and perceived intensity was observed in response to retronasal aroma. On the other hand, for umami, correlation between noticeability and perceived intensity significantly increased with retronasal aroma. Conclusions As the retronasal aroma of yokan allowed feature extraction from taste by Japanese consumers, we reconfirmed that consumers’ food perceptions were modified by the retronasal aroma of a common food.

Highlights

Common foods consist of several taste qualities
We confirmed that the highest noticeability values for yokan were for sweetness, independent of the nostril condition
We considered that the low correlation between noticeability and perceived intensity for sweetness under the open nostril condition was because the majority of participants who evaluated noticeability as ‘very easy’ indicated perceived intensity that ranged from middle to high values on the scale

Summary

Introduction

Common foods consist of several taste qualities. Consumers perceive intensity of a particular taste quality after noticing it among other taste qualities when they eat common foods. Bossola and colleagues [18] examined the effects of gastrointestinal cancer on taste of common foods by asking patients and healthy volunteers to evaluate perceived intensity of the sweetness of a black currant drink with additional sucrose, the sourness of lemonade with additional citric acid, the saltiness of unsalted tomato juice with additional NaCl, and the bitterness of tonic water with additional urea. Their results indicated that values of perceived intensity were similar between patients and healthy volunteers, so that decrease of perceived intensity caused by disease was not observed. Measurement of perceived intensity of taste was effective in clarifying the sensory properties of consumers during food intake

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