| Abstract: | To study the influences of smell on the scaling of taste, andvice versa, an unobtrusive device was developed which permitsthe independent varying of the olfactory and gustatory componentsof a flavor compound. With instant coffee and the method ofmagnitude estimation, the slopes of the olfactory, taste, andflavor curves produced by this device were similar to thoseproduced by more traditional delivery systems. To study theinteraction of taste on smell and vice versa, subjects scaledolfactory stimuli against different taste backgrounds and tastestimuli against different odorant backgrounds. Taste backgroundsdid not significantly alter the scaling of olfaction. Similarly,olfactory backgrounds did not significantly alter the scalingof taste. Finally, subjects scaled overall intensity (flavor)when presented with all combinations of four concentrationsof odorants and tastants. Smell and taste were shown to contributeindependently to the estimation of overall intensity. |
