Do you remember when you were a little kid that didn’t like any food that your parents tried to put in your mouth? They would use the “train” or the “airplane” or they would just end up eating it all themselves. What about now? Other than the fact that we are struggling college students, I’m sure we would appreciate any type of food that our parents tried to feed us. That’s because our taste buds have evolved.
In case you were not aware of this, children have different taste buds than adults. When we are younger, our taste buds are in charge of trying new foods and they determine whether or not they like what they eat. Its not all up to the taste buds though. “Taste is a composite sense that’s partly determined by the taste buds, but also affected by a food’s aroma, its appearance and even previous experiences with that or similar foods”. Whenever I am trying a new food, I have the tendency to smell it first because I can usually predict if I am going to like it or not.
The four sections of the tongue.
According to Wikipedia, the human tongue has between 2,000 and 8,000 taste buds. There are four different categories for our taste buds, including sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Some people include savory as a category, but it is not scientifically proven yet. Taste buds, or taste receptors, are grouped inside papillae, the small bumps you see on your tongue. The taste buds themselves are composed of lots of small receptor cells, between 50 and 150, which actually process taste. We have found that 80%-90% of taste is actually smell. “We fail to distinguish between their functions, instead mentally blending the real distinctions between taste, smell, flavor, and aroma just as we do when we eat. The interaction between smell and taste commences with the link between aroma and appetite.”
Even though our perception of taste also depends on third variables such as smell and appearance, if we think that we will like a food beforehand, chances are we actually will. We now have a better understanding of why kids are picky when it comes to certain foods being put on their plates.
Study 1: At the University of Western Sydney in Australia, young boys between the ages of 8-10 were compared to adult males, and it was found that the younger boys were more sensitive to sweet flavors.
Study 2: At the University of Copenhagen, 8,900 Danish children were observed and showed a noticeable change in taste perceptions as they got older. The older kids were able to distinguish flavors better, but did not prefer sweet flavors as much as the younger children did.
Study 3: Stanford University placed two identical meals in different packaging; one in a plain wrapper and one from a fast food restaurant. Children picked which meal tasted better and generally associated their experience with the name brand packaging.
The data from these studies are difficult to analyze because of the fact that taste is subjective. Looking at the two hypotheses, we have the null (taste buds don’t change as you get older) and the alternative (taste buds evolve over time). Based on these three studies, the alternative hypothesis is true. We lose up to half of our taste buds as we get older, which is the main reason that food tastes less flavorful. This makes me even more afraid of getting older, simply because my favorite foods may not taste as good anymore!
I find this extremely interesting, and I thought it was very well done. I once had a teacher who actually had no sense of smell whatsoever, but she still said she was able to taste things. I always wondered if her taste was altered because of what you said about it making up 80-90% of taste. However, when you think about taste being a type of perception, I suppose all foods would taste different to everyone, which would make a lot of sense as to why we all like different things. However, that still leaves me to wonder, if you don’t have a sense of smell, is your perception of taste not even remotely close to that of others or would it be the same?