Strawberry odor, but not red color, enhances the sweetness of sucrose solutions

Robert A. Frank, Kelly Ducheny, Sara Jane S. Mize

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

127 Scopus citations

Abstract

Several investigators have recently reported that odor and color can influence the sweetness of stimuli containing sucrose. These effects were examined further by assessing the effect of red coloring and strawberry odorant on the sweetness ratings of aqueous solutions of sucrose. Two methods of olfactory stimulation were used: (i) sip and spit, and (ii) swallowing the solutions. It was anticipated that swallowing the solutions would enhance the olfactory effects by augmenting retronasal olfactory stimulation. The strawberry odor induced a small, but significant increase in sweetness for both the sip and spit and swallowing condition. There was a tendency for this effect to be more consistent and stable in the swallowing condition. Red coloring had no effect on sweetness.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)371-377
Number of pages7
JournalChemical Senses
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1989

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank Fries-Cino Co. for the gift of strawberry odorant and Mrs Shirley Doxsey for processing these words. This research was supported by an Ohio Board of Reagents Research Challenge grant.

Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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