To each their own taste. Right?

Taste perception is highly personal. What one person detests, another relishes. Yet the principles of taste perception begin the same way for everyone, and not just on the tongue: smell and taste are very closely linked.

How it works

The tongue is covered with receptors that create taste perception. The current scientific consensus is that there are 5 tastes to identify: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Research into taste categories, however, is dynamic work in progress, and it is not inconceivable that more tastes will be added to this list later, such as calcium or metal, for example.

It is assumed that molecules in food have a certain shape or structure that must fit like a key in the lock of the corresponding receptor, and that the connection that is then created produces a taste experience. But this can only happen in cooperation with the receptors located in the oral and nasal cavities.
By chewing, swallowing, and breathing again, volatile molecules from the food reach the nasal cavity via the palate, which would work according to the same lock-and-key mechanism. Humans have up to 400 types of receptors in the oral and nasal cavities to taste with: these receptors can also detect odor, but the taste sensation is determined by the fact that the molecules enter the nasal cavity via the palate from the back instead of through the nostrils, which is characteristic of odor perception.

The brain then completes the taste experience when a number of nerve groups on the tongue and in the oral and nasal cavities transmit the taste sensation via the brainstem to the brain. A connection is made with peripheral matters such as memory, emotion, texture, certain genes involved (more on this later), and the taste experience is complete.

The Quantum Theory

As previously stated, science generally assumes that the shape of a molecule must match the shape of a taste receptor to activate the receptor. An alternative theory, however, is that it is not the shape of a molecule that determines a connection, but the vibration emanating from a molecule. This aspect of quantum physics is called 'tunneling,' and in the case of taste receptors, it means that the receptors do not so much identify molecules by shape, but rather by the individual molecular vibration that occurs when the receptors send a small shock through the molecule upon contact.

This theory is supported by a study in which fruit flies (naturally equipped with sensitive smell and taste sensory perception) were exposed to molecules that had the same shape but different vibrations. The fruit flies could distinguish the difference despite the same shape of the molecules, which refutes the current shape theory. We previously wrote a blog about tunneling in relation to the magic of love and the origin of life, which you can find here. More research is obviously needed, but it is interesting!

Genes and Taste Sensation

In addition to taste receptors and the brain, the genetic package you inherited from your parents also plays a physiological role in taste perception. Some interesting facts about DNA in relation to taste:

• Phenylthiocarbamide—usually abbreviated to PTC—is an organic compound in which a dominant gene (along with regular use of tobacco, tea, and coffee) determines whether it is experienced as tasteless or very bitter. For example, only 58% of the Aboriginal population tastes this substance, whereas 98% of the original American population perceives bitterness.
• The gene designated as OR7D4 can identify androstenone: a molecule found in the meat of uncastrated male pigs and responsible for the so-called 'boar taint.' Variations in the DNA of OR7D4 that activate the corresponding taste receptor determine how this odor is experienced: it can be unpleasant, sweetish, or odorless. The DNA variation that does not detect the odor is found more frequently in the Asian and Northern European populations, for example.
• Cilantro (coriander) is beloved by many but also has fervent opponents who experience a strong soapy taste when they eat this herb. This also has a genetic cause in part: the OR6A2 gene activates a taste receptor that is above-average sensitive to aldehyde chemicals, which contribute to the taste of cilantro. With a double version of this gene, the strong soapy taste is reported more often than in people who have this gene singly or not at all.

Musical Gastronomy

Sound is also capable of influencing a taste experience. This applies on different levels. Research has shown that it is more difficult to properly perceive a taste when the environment in which you eat is loud. The more decibels, the less well a taste perception comes through. Even sounds related to what you eat influence the taste: a renowned British restaurant serves its oysters with sea sounds because this was found to improve the guest's taste experience.

Music occupies a special place when it comes to stimulating an experience that enters elsewhere in the body. For example, music can reduce pain (read more about this in our blog on this topic here), but it can also make a taste experience more or less intense, depending on the sound and pitch. In one study, toffee was given to test subjects while different pieces of music were played. The test subjects were asked to describe the taste of the toffee while music was playing. With a piece of music with high tones, the test subjects described the toffee more often as sweet, while with music with mainly low tones, a bitter taste was mentioned. The same findings have been described in similar studies with coffee.

Inborn for Sweet

Evolution plays an explicit role in how personal taste develops. Babies instinctively have an aversion to bitter and a preference for sweet. It is assumed that this is because bitter has historically implied poison. The preference for food with a sweet taste would be related to the fact that even in the womb, a child receives amniotic fluid, which contains fructose and glucose. In addition, breast milk contains a lot of sugar in the form of lactose. Research even shows that sweet has a comforting factor: a sweet taste sensation reduces pain and crying behavior in babies and is also used as pain relief for the heel prick or circumcision.

The preference for sweet steadily decreases in many children as they get older and more flavors are introduced. Nevertheless, the preference for sweet is often maintained culturally, by using it as a reward, among other things: a candy for being brave, a piece of cake at a party, a dessert when the plate is eaten clean. In this way, positive experiences are linked to the sweet taste, and the sensation becomes even more pleasant.

Milk chocolate, ice cream, donuts, and cookies are, in that respect, not coincidentally favorites when it comes to comfort food, or precisely to celebrate something: the specific ratio of 1 gram of fat to 2 grams of sugar found in these sweets is the same as that of breast milk!

Healthy Snacking

Sweet foods often have the reputation of not being healthy. Of course, this does not necessarily have to be the case: sugar (carbohydrates) is also a valid energy source, provided it is consumed in moderation and as naturally as possible. Think of bananas or strawberries: deliciously sweet fruit, and in addition to the sugars, also full of vitamins and minerals!

Relatively new in the world of dietary supplements are supplements in which the nutrients are captured in tasty gummies. The choice in this is becoming increasingly larger as it gains popularity worldwide. Logical too, since this way taking supplements is linked to a pampering moment! When choosing such dietary supplements, it is important to look at the composition of the gummy: is the basis here also as natural as possible, and does it contain no unnecessary additives? This is certainly the case with the gummies from Megafood and Doctor's Best. No chemical flavorings, colorings, or sweeteners, but flavored and colored with natural fruit, and therefore popular with both children and adults. Snacking has never been so healthy!