Investigation of the effects of color on judgments of sweetness using a taste adaptation method
Abstract
It has been reported that color can affect the judgment of taste. For example, a dark red color enhances the subjective intensity of sweetness. However, the underlying mechanisms of the effect of color on taste have not been fully investigated; in particular, it remains unclear whether the effect is based on cognitive/decisional or perceptual processes. Here, we investigated the effect of color on sweetness judgments using a taste adaptation method. A sweet solution whose color was subjectively congruent with sweetness was judged as sweeter than an uncolored sweet solution both before and after adaptation to an uncolored sweet solution. In contrast, subjective judgment of sweetness for uncolored sweet solutions did not differ between the conditions following adaptation to a colored sweet solution and following adaptation to an uncolored one. Color affected sweetness judgment when the target solution was colored, but the colored sweet solution did not modulate the magnitude of taste adaptation. Therefore, it is concluded that the effect of color on the judgment of taste would occur mainly in cognitive/decisional domains.
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Red-coloured drinks enhance sweetness detection, expectations of sweetness, and perceived intensity.
“Specifically, in terms of sweetness, red-coloured drinks have been found to enhance sweetness detection [34], expectations of sweetness [53], and perceived intensity [30,33,35,39,50].”
From The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sensory Factors in Sweetness Perception of Food and Beverages: A Review (2019) · cites this paper as [33]
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- Authors
- Hidaka, S., & Shimoda, K.
- Affiliations
- Rikkyo University (JP)
- ORCID
- Hidaka, Souta
- Venue
- Multisensory Research
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 189-205
- ISSN
- 2213-4794 (ISSN-L)
- 2213-4808
- OpenAlex
- W1985419040
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Multisensory Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
- Keywords
- color and taste, sweetness perception, taste adaptation, multisensory integration
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Adolescent, Color, Color Perception, Data Collection, Female, Humans, Judgment, Male, Solutions, Sweetening Agents, Taste, Taste Perception, Young Adult
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