A RESEARCH NOTE: THE ROLE OF PARTICLES IN THE PERCEPTION OF FLAVORS¹

Abstract

Oral particles are produced when the tongue is pulled away ffom the palate and when the lips are parted (Kao et al. 1998). To explore the role of oral particles on flavor perception, experiments were designed to compare the perception of some foodflavors under conditions that produce and do not produce oral particles. The minimum perceptible concentrations of 2-pentanone, 2-heptanone, and 2-nonanone were determined when observers held their mouthparts still and when they were allowed to move their lips and tongues. The minimum perceptible concentration with mouthparts still was significantly higher than that with mouthparts moving. Flavor descriptors applied to mixtures of amino acids, salts and flavor potentiators, which were designed to simulate crab flavor, also shifed substantially when tasted with still versus moving mouthparts. The diflerences observed with still and moving mouthparts support the hypothesis that oral particles strongly influence flavor perception.