SENIOR CITIZENS & SENSES

The taste of a food, what is it? Food and drinks contain many molecules or «chemical substances» that give its «taste». Some of these molecules are detected by the taste buds, small elevations on the surface of the tongue. This is how we perceive sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness. What is less well known is that most molecules are detected by the nose. When you eat a food, the aromatic molecules of a food are released in the mouth and move up the back of the throat to the nasal cavity where they stimulate the smell receptors in your nose. Our sense of smell therefore plays a very important role: it enables us to distinguish between the «taste» of an apple and the «taste» of an onion.
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