Does Smell Affect Taste?

By Sofia Jurusz

Hypothesis

My hypothesis was that smell does affect taste especially if a person can’t see what they're eating. Most foods have smells that go with them. Those smells go into your brain and match the food you were eating. With the smells coming from a different food, your brain will think you are eating a food the smell matches with.

Procedure

• 1. I gathered the materials; 6 different essential oils,(I used Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, Lime, and Orange) 6 different yogurts (I used Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana, Lime, Apple Pie, and Orange), a blindfold, tasting spoons, water bottles ,and napkins.

  2. I blind folded the subject.

  3. Before I started the experiment I told them they need to say if they liked it and what it reminded them of.

  4. I had them taste each yogurt and state their opinion. In Between each test they would drink water to clean their palate.

  5. After the tasting I did smelling with the same procedure.

1. After both tests, I had paired and scent with a taste and tested them together, to see if the scent changed their thoughts on the taste.

Conclusion

Overall, the scent from the essential oil changed the taste of the yogurt. My hypothesis was correct because I predicted that the taste would change based on the smell. I learned that smell affects taste drastically because 76% of the 90 responses changed. If I was to ever do this experiment I would want to test 30 people to get a better result and all of them be the same age as well. This was great experiment with great information.

Does Smell Affect Taste?

Because my parents have both had culinary experience, I have always been interested in food. When I found out about science fair the idea raced to my head. Can a lingering smell affect your taste or will it just mind its own bussiness? My hypothesis was that a lingering smell could affect your taste because it would fool you into thinking that was what you were eating.

The first step to this experiment is getting the materials, I needed six flavored yogurts (I used Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana, Lime, Apple Pie, and Orange), six different essential oils (I used Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, Lime, and Orange), napkins, blindfold and 180 tasting spoons. Once I gathered these materials I began the experiment. During the overall test there were three sections; tasting, smelling, and both tasting and smelling. During the experiment you were blindfolded, so you wouldn’t know what you were tasting/smelling. After the person tasted or smelled the food, they would say if the liked it/disliked it, and if it reminded them of anything they ever ate/smelled in the past. This same procedure was followed when tasting a smelling at the same time.

During the experiment, there were many common mix ups between flavors and smells. Some of them were, lime and lemon, lavender and peppermint, and strawberry and vanilla. After processing all the data, there was a 46 response difference. A changed response was any taste or smell that differed from the original taste or smell. The changed responses had 68, and not changed responses had 22.

Overall, the scent from the essential oil changed the taste of the yogurt. My hypothesis was correct because I predicted that the taste would change based on the smell. I learned that smell affects taste drastically because 76% of the 90 responses changed. If I was to ever do this experiment I would want to test 30 people to get a better result and all of them be the same age as well. This was great experiment with great information.