Our tongue identifies different flavors with the help of our taste buds and helps us to identify the food we eat. However, the world of sensory science claims that other senses also play roles in the way we experience our food. You might know that the aroma of the foods can affect the way it would taste. But, do you have any idea that the physical appearance of the food can also change its taste? To prove this claim, in January 2020, a group of Filipino BS in food technology students had conducted a sensory evaluation experiment to see if the color of the food affects its taste. The researchers used 3 L of Apple juice as a food sample; they used 3 different food colorings ( Yellow, Orange, and Violet) to change the color of the Apple juices and labeled them as samples A (Yellow), B (Orange), and C (Violet). They then asked 50 participants to taste samples while drinking water in between samples. The result shows that out of 50 participants, 48 have said sample A with yellow color is Mango while 2 have said it was a lemon flavor. While for samples B and C, all the 50 have said that it was Orange and Grape juice respectively. The participants have failed to identify the flavor correctly.
The reason behind this phenomenon is because the first thing we usually do is looking at our food before putting it in our mouth, which will allow us to identify the color of our food. our sense of sight will send signals to our brain and it helps us to perceive flavor. But, every time we see the color of our food we usually associate them with our experience, and when it doesn't meet the flavor we expect it to be, we get a little confuse and perceive the flavor differently.
Color changes the taste of the food dramatically due to psychological effects. Although the color is not technically part of the taste of the food it greatly affects our perception. Because for our brain "flavor" is an amalgamation of foods "taste, aroma, appearance, and touch" into a single sensation. This mingling of all sensations happens before and during the process of eating where we also identify our food flavor.