Two studies were conducted to examine the nature of the verbal labels that describe emotional effects elicited by odors. In Study 1, a list of terms selected for their relevance to describe affective feelings induced by odors was assessed while participants were exposed to a set of odorant samples. The data were submitted to a series of exploratory factor analyses to 1) reduce the set of variables to a smaller set of summary scales and 2) get a preliminary sense of the differentiation of affective feelings elicited by odors. The goal of Study 2 was to replicate the findings of Study 1 with a larger sample of odorant samples and participants and to validate the preliminary model obtained in Study 1 by using confirmatory factor analysis. Overall, the findings point to a structure of affective responses to odors that differs from the classical taxonomies of emotion such as posited by discrete or bidimensional emotion theories. These findings suggest that the subjective affective experiences or feelings induced by odors are structured around a small group of dimensions that reflect the role of olfaction in well-being, social interaction, danger prevention, arousal or relaxation sensations, and conscious recollection of emotional memories.

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Volatile sulfur compounds have a low odor threshold, and their presence at microgram per kilogram levels in fruits and vegetables influences odor quality. Sensory analysis demonstrates that naturally occurring, odorless cysteine-S-conjugates such as

Pleasantness, familiarity, and intensity are 3 interdependent dimensions commonly used to describe the perceived qualities of an odor. In particular, many empirical studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between familiarity and pleasantness. However, on the basis of both theoretical and methodological perspectives, we questioned the validity of such a relation for malodors. We report 2 studies based on subjective judgments of a large sample of odorants (Experiment 1) associated with autonomic recordings (Experiment 2). Multivariate exploratory analysis performed on the data splits the whole odorant set into 2 subsets composed, respectively, of unpleasant and pleasant odorants. Subsequent correlation analyses have shown that the relation between pleasantness and familiarity is specific for the pleasant odors in the 2 experiments. Moreover, autonomic activity was more important in response to malodors than to pleasant odors and was significantly correlated with unpleasantness ratings in the subset of unpleasant odors. These 2 studies argue in favor of a functional dissociation in the relations between both subjective and autonomic responses to odors as a function of pleasantness and indicate that researchers in the olfactory domain should consider the relations between pleasantness and familiarity as more complex than linear.

Given that little is known about how sensory interactions during lemonade consumption unfold over time, we studied the impact of citric acid level and type of sweetener on dynamic perception of simplified lemonade using temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) and temporal check‐all‐that‐apply (TCATA). We found that citric acid level did not impact perception of lemon flavor. Instead, the sweetener type had an impact on the rate and duration with which lemon flavor was perceived as dominant in TDS, but not its overall citation duration and rates in TCATA. In terms of licorice taste, SG 95 (95% steviol glycosides) solutions with higher levels of citric acid had relatively lower dominance/citation rates and duration than SG 95 samples with lower levels of citric acid. Sweetness was perceived to be more dominant and more frequently cited for sucrose than SG 95 solutions, especially at the early tasting stage. Finally, results showed that both TDS and TCATA provided useful and complementary information for the study of sensory interactions. Practical Applications Understanding the dynamic sensory interaction of cross‐modality perceptions of lemonade could help product developers to formulate the low calorie natural sweetener drink. The results elucidate the impact of sweetener type and citric acid level on dynamic perception of simplified lemonade. TDS and TCATA are able to provide complementary information on dynamic sensory perception.