We're back
before the break, we asked smell accounts for upwards of 1% of our taste of flavor.
A 20%
b 50%
or c
80%.
Were you able to sniff out the correct answer? If you said c 80%
you've got a nose for good taste.
Scientists can't agree on an exact percentage
but general consensus is that smell accounts for 70 to 80% of how we perceive flavor.
This explains why when you're sick or stuffed up foods can become flavorless.
The main tastes you get from taste buds alone are sweet,
sour,
bitter,
salty
and umami
individual distinct flavors come from smell.
If you want to be a super taster,
you have to be a super smeller. First
smell is one of our five senses.
It's a direct sense and often the first response to stimuli,
you can smell what someone is cooking for dinner before you see it
or know a skunk has been in the area without ever seeing it.
Mhm
One study found that people raised in the
United States associated the smell of lemon with cleanliness
because it's used in common cleaning products.
However, people in rural Italy associated the same smell with rot
because it was a smell they encountered on
lemon orchards ripening in the summer heat.
So while smells are determined by genes,
the memories and associations we link to them are individual to everyone.
The association between mood and smell is why some car companies
employ smell designers to get that perfect new car smell.
Real estate agents are also known to use the smell of fresh baked
cookies to help make potential buyers feel at home during an open house.