The role of congruency in taste-odor interactions
Abstract
The present study investigated the role that congruency between tastes and odors plays in two types of taste–odor interactions: retronasal odor enhancement by taste and retronasal odor referral to the mouth. In the first experiment, subjects rated (1) the intensities of sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and specific odor of aqueous samples of 3 tastants (sucrose, citric acid, caffeine) and 2 odorants (citral, coffee odor), both alone and in taste–odor mixtures, and (2) the degree of congruency of all possible taste–odor pairs. The results showed that only sucrose significantly enhanced the perceived intensities of citrus and coffee odors (Tukey’s test, p<0.05), while citric acid and caffeine failed to enhance or even suppressed the odors. In the second experiment, the returning subjects were asked (1) to report the perceived locations of the odors after inhaling 3 odorants (citral, “sweet” and “bitter” coffee odors) through the mouth alone or in the presence of either water or various tastes in the mouth, and (2) to rate the degree of congruency between tastes and odors. The data showed that a highly congruent taste or taste mixture significantly increased localization of odors to the mouth (χ2, p<0.05). These findings suggest that taste–odor congruency is a necessary but not sufficient condition for retronasal odor enhancement. In contrast, taste–odor congruency is a critical component for retronasal odor referral, and the degree of congruency modulates the degree of odor referral to the mouth. The results and implications of the study findings are discussed in terms of cognitive and perceptual factors of flavor perception.
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Further studies with solid gelatine disks and more ecologically valid stimulus combinations revealed that oral referral is enhanced proportional to the degree of self-reported smell-taste congruency.
“Further studies conducted with solid gelatine disks instead of liquid solutions [191], and with more ecologically valid stimulus combinations (citral aroma with sweet or sour tastants, co ee aroma with sweet or bitter tastants) revealed similar results where oral referral was enhanced proportional to the degree of self-reported smell-taste congruency [192].”
From The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sensory Factors in Sweetness Perception of Food and Beverages: A Review (2019) · cites this paper as [192]
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“or sour tastants, coffee aroma with sweet or bitter tastants) revealed similar results where oral referral was enhanced proportional to the degree of self-reported smell–taste congruency [192].”
ResultOral referral: On the mislocalization of odours to the mouth
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Retronasal odor enhancement by salty and umami tastes
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Lim, J., Fujimaru, T., & Linscott, T. D.
- Affiliations
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lim, Juyun
- ORCID
- Lim, Juyun
- Venue
- Food Quality and Preference
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-06
- Volume
- 34
- Pages
- 5-13
- ISSN
- 0950-3293 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2036343797
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6
- FWCI
- 2.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Food Quality and Preference (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques
- Keywords
- taste-odor interaction, odor localization, flavor perception, sucrose, citric acid, caffeine, citral
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