How Does Smell Affect The Sense Of Taste Experiment
What Really Lets Us ‘TASTE’
The sense of smell and production of saliva was looked at to see how much of an affect the two have on a person’s ability to taste a given food. Smell was proved to be what had the most affect on a person being able to identify a certain taste and flavor. Saliva proved to have an affect but not as drastic as smell. When the sense of smell and production of saliva are used, volunteers are able to identify the correct taste and flavor.
In everyday life people smell and taste things constantly never putting the two senses together and thinking about how without one the other may not work. Nor do people ever think about how the puddle of saliva sitting in the mouth may affect them being able to taste either. The reason …show more content…
being for why one may not work without the other is that the sense of smell and sense of taste receptions are closely related together (Harnett, 2007). In some cases, the taste buds may be functioning correctly, but the sense of smell is the problem (Roth, 2014). Like how those two senses require one to work for the other to, saliva secretions are needed to carry food molecules to the corresponding receptor in the taste buds (Farrer, 2014). Without having a proper sense of smell or enough of a production of saliva, tasting would become a difficult task. When people eat certain foods and come up with what is commonly called taste, it is actually just the flavor of the food (Harnett, 2007). Without distinguishing a distinct flavor of a food it would be hard to describe how exactly that certain food tastes. Flavor is made up of a combination of smell, taste, spiciness, temperature and texture (D’Ambrosio, Lafreniere, Thramann, Formaker, n.d.). Most of the flavor of a food comes from the smell, so when a person is unable to smell, the ability to experience the flavor is almost entirely gone (D’Ambrosio, Lafreniere, Thramann, Formaker, n.d.). By loosing or hindering a person’s ability to smell would in turn cause the person to lose most of the flavor of a food which then would alter a person’s ability to accurately classify the food’s taste and say what it is they are eating. Meanwhile, saliva, too, can have various affects on the sour, salt, and umami tastes (Spielman, 1990). Studies have shown that people with a lower amount of salivary amylase, an enzyme, have quite different tastes then someone with high levels of it (Farrer, 2014). Saliva and taste are linked to the nervous system as well as smell is. In order to register a specific taste all three factors; taste, smell and saliva are needed (Farrer, 2014).
In this lab the goal was to see how much of an affect the sense of smell and production of salvia really make when a person is trying to indicate the taste of a given food.
The first objective in this lab was to take away the volunteer’s sense of smell to measure the affect of smell on taste. The second objective in this lab was to rid of any excess salvia off of the volunteer’s tongue to measure the affect of saliva on taste. The third and last objective would be to test the volunteer without altering any of their senses or amount of salvia on their tongue to observe their normal ability to distinguish …show more content…
taste.
Smell and taste go hand in hand together. A majority of the taste comes from what is smelled while eating the food so if the ability to smell is prohibited then the volunteer will be unable to give a clear taste of the food. Since saliva is needed to carry molecules from the food to the correct taste receptors then like smell, saliva will be an important factor to recognize taste. If the sense of smell is taken away or any excess saliva is wiped away then distinguishing a food by its taste will be less accurate than when the volunteers are able to use their sense of smell or production of salvia to help identify tastes.
The first step done in this lab was to come up with a list of twenty volunteers that could be tested and then to make a table which was referred to as (table1) for the reminder of this lab, to use to record all the data easily and clearly. The second step was to buy the materials; assorted flavors of starburst candies to test each volunteer three times, a roll of paper towels to dry the excess saliva, and a pair of nose plugs to inhibit each volunteer’s sense of smell. Once the candy was sorted out by flavor, the nose plugs were in a pile, and 20 paper towels laid out for each volunteer to grab one, each volunteer was blindfolded and one at a time brought to where he or she would be tested at. On the first trial he or she wore the nose plugs and one at a time, given the four different flavored starbursts to eat. He or she could not use their sense of smell before giving a final taste or flavor of the piece that they had in their mouth at the time. This was done to measure the affect smell had on taste. The results were recorded on the data chart. A check mark was given for identifying the correct flavor and an x was given to indicate that he or she was unable to say what the taste of the gummy was or that they had given an incorrect answer. Once that trial was completed, the volunteers were kept blindfolded, and was each given a glass of water to rinse out his or hers mouth out with to prepare for the second trial. On the second trial the volunteers were given a paper towel to dry any excess salvia off of their tongue with. This was done to measure the affect salvia had on taste. Again the volunteers were given the starbursts one at a time and had to identify the flavor. The results were recorded. Before the third and last trail, the volunteers were given another glass of water to rinse his or her mouth out with. The third trail stood as the control so the volunteers were given the four flavors of the starburst candy without altering his or her sense of smell or having them change the amount of salvia they had in his or her mouths. The final set of data was recorded. After completing the three trials the volunteers were able to take the blindfold off and shown the flavors of gummies he or she had been given. For the final step, the results were compared from each of the twenty volunteers and the conclusion was made.
In this lab, the volunteers will be able to identify the taste of the specific flavor of starburst when neither their smell nor salvia is taken away. The trial when the sense of smell is taken away will be the trial when they are unable to identify the taste most often. The trial when their salvia is taken away will not have as much of an affect as smell but can have a moderate affect depending on what the flavor of the starburst is. The reason being, salvia has a large affect on sour, salty, and umami tastes.
Each one of the volunteers was unable to taste the specific gummy and unable to give the correct flavor of what it was at least once in every trial when their nose was plugged (table1). The salvia trial had just a little over half of times when the correct flavor was able to be given (table1). The control group was the trial when the volunteers were in fact able to give the correct flavor of whatever specific gummy they had been given the most times (table1).
The data that was gathered in this lab supported the hypothesis that taking away a person’s sense of smell or production of salvia would result in a decrease in the accuracy to identify tastes of given foods.
During this lab, the volunteers were able to give the correct taste/flavor when the sense of smell and production of salvia were not affected 95% of the total times. When the volunteer’s sense of smell was taken away, the correct taste/flavor was only given 24% of the total times. Supporting the first idea, the flavors were unable to be obtained when the ability for the volunteers to smell was taken away. Likewise, supporting the second idea that everyone has different amounts of certain enzymes in their saliva, a little over half of the volunteers, 60%, were able to identify the correct taste/flavor when the excess salvia had been wiped away. Learning that the sense of smell and the taste receptions are very much related the results that were got were what was expected. The ideas and concepts that were found doing the research makes sense as to why 95% of the times during the control proved to be the right
taste/flavor.
To go further in depth with taste and smell and the production of saliva, labs could be preformed to look at the age and sex of the volunteers. This new experiment could look at the ways age and sex affects smell in general and if the age or sex of the volunteers has any thing to do with the enzymes found in the saliva. During this lab the volunteers’ age and sex would have to be gathered in the data chart and looked at and counted when comparing and finding percent’s and averages of the final results. Results for this lab would support; 1, that the older the volunteers are, the more likely that the sense of smell will not work as accurately as it does for the young volunteers and 2, that males, in general, will not have as strong of a sense of smell as women do.
The goal of this lab was to see how much of an affect the sense of smell and production of salvia really make when a person is trying to indicate the taste of a given food. The results showed that smell and salvia do actually impact the ability for someone to taste. Taste was shown to have more of an affect than saliva but only a little over half of the volunteers were able to taste without salvia.
The sense of smell and production of saliva was looked at to see how much of an affect the two have on a person’s ability to taste a given food. Smell was proved to be what had the most affect on a person being able to identify a certain taste and flavor. Saliva proved to have an affect but not as drastic as smell. When the sense of smell and production of saliva are used, volunteers are able to identify the correct taste and flavor.
In everyday life people smell and taste things constantly never putting the two senses together and thinking about how without one the other may not work. Nor do people ever think about how the puddle of saliva sitting in the mouth may affect them being able to taste either. The reason …show more content…
being for why one may not work without the other is that the sense of smell and sense of taste receptions are closely related together (Harnett, 2007). In some cases, the taste buds may be functioning correctly, but the sense of smell is the problem (Roth, 2014). Like how those two senses require one to work for the other to, saliva secretions are needed to carry food molecules to the corresponding receptor in the taste buds (Farrer, 2014). Without having a proper sense of smell or enough of a production of saliva, tasting would become a difficult task. When people eat certain foods and come up with what is commonly called taste, it is actually just the flavor of the food (Harnett, 2007). Without distinguishing a distinct flavor of a food it would be hard to describe how exactly that certain food tastes. Flavor is made up of a combination of smell, taste, spiciness, temperature and texture (D’Ambrosio, Lafreniere, Thramann, Formaker, n.d.). Most of the flavor of a food comes from the smell, so when a person is unable to smell, the ability to experience the flavor is almost entirely gone (D’Ambrosio, Lafreniere, Thramann, Formaker, n.d.). By loosing or hindering a person’s ability to smell would in turn cause the person to lose most of the flavor of a food which then would alter a person’s ability to accurately classify the food’s taste and say what it is they are eating. Meanwhile, saliva, too, can have various affects on the sour, salt, and umami tastes (Spielman, 1990). Studies have shown that people with a lower amount of salivary amylase, an enzyme, have quite different tastes then someone with high levels of it (Farrer, 2014). Saliva and taste are linked to the nervous system as well as smell is. In order to register a specific taste all three factors; taste, smell and saliva are needed (Farrer, 2014).
In this lab the goal was to see how much of an affect the sense of smell and production of salvia really make when a person is trying to indicate the taste of a given food.
The first objective in this lab was to take away the volunteer’s sense of smell to measure the affect of smell on taste. The second objective in this lab was to rid of any excess salvia off of the volunteer’s tongue to measure the affect of saliva on taste. The third and last objective would be to test the volunteer without altering any of their senses or amount of salvia on their tongue to observe their normal ability to distinguish …show more content…
taste.
Smell and taste go hand in hand together. A majority of the taste comes from what is smelled while eating the food so if the ability to smell is prohibited then the volunteer will be unable to give a clear taste of the food. Since saliva is needed to carry molecules from the food to the correct taste receptors then like smell, saliva will be an important factor to recognize taste. If the sense of smell is taken away or any excess saliva is wiped away then distinguishing a food by its taste will be less accurate than when the volunteers are able to use their sense of smell or production of salvia to help identify tastes.
The first step done in this lab was to come up with a list of twenty volunteers that could be tested and then to make a table which was referred to as (table1) for the reminder of this lab, to use to record all the data easily and clearly. The second step was to buy the materials; assorted flavors of starburst candies to test each volunteer three times, a roll of paper towels to dry the excess saliva, and a pair of nose plugs to inhibit each volunteer’s sense of smell. Once the candy was sorted out by flavor, the nose plugs were in a pile, and 20 paper towels laid out for each volunteer to grab one, each volunteer was blindfolded and one at a time brought to where he or she would be tested at. On the first trial he or she wore the nose plugs and one at a time, given the four different flavored starbursts to eat. He or she could not use their sense of smell before giving a final taste or flavor of the piece that they had in their mouth at the time. This was done to measure the affect smell had on taste. The results were recorded on the data chart. A check mark was given for identifying the correct flavor and an x was given to indicate that he or she was unable to say what the taste of the gummy was or that they had given an incorrect answer. Once that trial was completed, the volunteers were kept blindfolded, and was each given a glass of water to rinse out his or hers mouth out with to prepare for the second trial. On the second trial the volunteers were given a paper towel to dry any excess salvia off of their tongue with. This was done to measure the affect salvia had on taste. Again the volunteers were given the starbursts one at a time and had to identify the flavor. The results were recorded. Before the third and last trail, the volunteers were given another glass of water to rinse his or her mouth out with. The third trail stood as the control so the volunteers were given the four flavors of the starburst candy without altering his or her sense of smell or having them change the amount of salvia they had in his or her mouths. The final set of data was recorded. After completing the three trials the volunteers were able to take the blindfold off and shown the flavors of gummies he or she had been given. For the final step, the results were compared from each of the twenty volunteers and the conclusion was made.
In this lab, the volunteers will be able to identify the taste of the specific flavor of starburst when neither their smell nor salvia is taken away. The trial when the sense of smell is taken away will be the trial when they are unable to identify the taste most often. The trial when their salvia is taken away will not have as much of an affect as smell but can have a moderate affect depending on what the flavor of the starburst is. The reason being, salvia has a large affect on sour, salty, and umami tastes.
Each one of the volunteers was unable to taste the specific gummy and unable to give the correct flavor of what it was at least once in every trial when their nose was plugged (table1). The salvia trial had just a little over half of times when the correct flavor was able to be given (table1). The control group was the trial when the volunteers were in fact able to give the correct flavor of whatever specific gummy they had been given the most times (table1).
The data that was gathered in this lab supported the hypothesis that taking away a person’s sense of smell or production of salvia would result in a decrease in the accuracy to identify tastes of given foods.
During this lab, the volunteers were able to give the correct taste/flavor when the sense of smell and production of salvia were not affected 95% of the total times. When the volunteer’s sense of smell was taken away, the correct taste/flavor was only given 24% of the total times. Supporting the first idea, the flavors were unable to be obtained when the ability for the volunteers to smell was taken away. Likewise, supporting the second idea that everyone has different amounts of certain enzymes in their saliva, a little over half of the volunteers, 60%, were able to identify the correct taste/flavor when the excess salvia had been wiped away. Learning that the sense of smell and the taste receptions are very much related the results that were got were what was expected. The ideas and concepts that were found doing the research makes sense as to why 95% of the times during the control proved to be the right
taste/flavor.
To go further in depth with taste and smell and the production of saliva, labs could be preformed to look at the age and sex of the volunteers. This new experiment could look at the ways age and sex affects smell in general and if the age or sex of the volunteers has any thing to do with the enzymes found in the saliva. During this lab the volunteers’ age and sex would have to be gathered in the data chart and looked at and counted when comparing and finding percent’s and averages of the final results. Results for this lab would support; 1, that the older the volunteers are, the more likely that the sense of smell will not work as accurately as it does for the young volunteers and 2, that males, in general, will not have as strong of a sense of smell as women do.
The goal of this lab was to see how much of an affect the sense of smell and production of salvia really make when a person is trying to indicate the taste of a given food. The results showed that smell and salvia do actually impact the ability for someone to taste. Taste was shown to have more of an affect than saliva but only a little over half of the volunteers were able to taste without salvia.