Clara Dominique A.

Zerna AC132 BehaSci

I. What is taste?

Taste is the sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a
substance.
Taste is the sensation produced when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with
taste receptor cells located on taste buds.
Taste, along with smell (olfaction) and trigeminal nerve stimulation (registering texture,
pain, and temperature), determines flavors of food or other substances.

II. Importance of taste

It's because of taste that eating is considered a pleasurable experienceone that we like
to repeat several times a dayinstead of a boring chore!
Tasting and smelling food trigger our salivary glands and digestive juices. Without
them, our stomachs wouldnt be ready for food, and wed have trouble digesting food and
making use of the nutrients we get from food.
It can detect off flavors, like rottenness.
It is so crucial that whenever we cant taste our food, our desire to eat it vanishes.

III. Relationship of smell and taste for the chef

What we refer to as taste is actually a combination of taste, smell, touch and other factors
such as temperature. All together these sensations create flavor. As we eat, our taste buds'
receptions also react to a food's odor and both the taste and smell combined allow us to
identify what we are eating. Lacking a sense of smell, we would be able to tell sweet
from bitter, but we would not be able to recognize flavors. We therefore wouldn't be able
to tell the difference between foods.
Chefs simultaneously smell and taste (inhales and tastes) the food they are eating. Theyd
know if the food is delicious with first the scent and then taste.

IV.Relationship of taste and the food industry

The food industry wont ever be complete without taste.

With taste, the food industry may discover new things/products, or may invent substitutes
for certain ingredients/food.

V. About supertasters

A supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity
than average.