Why does everything edible thing taste different to every one?!
The first one loves the second meal but has no opinion on the second. The second person hates the first meal but loves the second meal. The third person loves both meals. Yet all those meals tasted exactly the same to every one.
So I ask this, why do we taste all food and drinks differently, when we all have the same chemical composition of saliva?
Answers:
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>The main reason is genetic. There are four basic flavors, sweet, salty, acid and bitter. Different people have different genetic sensitivities to these four things and the combination or synergistic effect makes a huge difference on how food is perceived by the tongue.
?Taste and flavor are two different phenomena. Taste is detected by individual receptors on the tongue, whereas flavor is a blending of sensations from the taste, smell and touch centers. In some instances, even the visual center comes in to play. To understand how taste becomes flavor, let's examine the function of the tongue.
Originally, it was believed that the tongue is only able to detect four primary tastes--sour, sweet, bitter and salty. Most standard tongue maps show the sweet region at the tip of the tongue, the salty region to the left and right of the tip, sour along each side and bitter in the center back of the tongue. The reality is that the receptors in the tongue can detect any of these tastes, in any area. Additionally, in the early 1900s Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda identified a fifth taste element--umami--and scientists now believe that there are also taste receptors for fats.
Eating is essentially a chemical reaction; the act of mastication breaks down the food and releases odor and taste chemicals into the mouth. Meanwhile, touch receptors register temperature, texture and heat from spices. As we eat, the odor molecules from the food enter our sinuses through two routes--our noses and through the sinus openings in the back of the throat. At the same time, the taste molecules coat the tongue and the taste processors send signals from the individual elements to the brain. If an item is spicy, the touch receptors send pain or heat signals as well. The brain takes all of the data and blends them together to interpret flavor. The visual sense comes into play because the color of the food often affects the brain's interpretation of flavor. This is why food manufacturers use coloring in their products and why some foods, like green ketchup, are perceived as tasting different although they don't.
If the olfactory center is blocked or inoperative, the odors are unable to get to the brain. This is why food tastes bland or unappetizing when we're sick. There's a condition called anosmia in which sufferers are unable to smell; that directly affects their ability to detect flavors. There are some people who are supertasters. These people have such heightened taste receptors that bland foods appear flavorful, and foods with a lot of flavor are overpowering.
Read more: Understanding Sensory Processes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4912363_und…
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