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So You’re a Supertaster, But Are You a Thermal Taster?
Publish Date : 1395/5/23 Time 16:16:57



So You’re a Supertaster, But Are You a Thermal Taster?


One of our blog posts in April helped determine if you were a supertaster, medium-taster, or non-taster.   But now we want to know if you are a thermal taster.  According to Dr. Gary Pickering of Brock University in Canada, 20-30 % of people are thermal tasters.  For these tasters, temperature alone can produce flavor.

Thermal Taster Status (TTS)

Through heating or cooling of small areas of the tongue, thermal tasters sense flavors without the presence of food or drink.  Think of them as extra-sensitive supertasters, who don’t even require food to taste flavor.  Now that’s a powerful taster!  But don’t start heating your tongue just yet – the heating and cooling process is performed by a special thermode device.

TTS was first identified by Cruz and Green in 2000, where they found that warming the tongue can evoke sweetness, while cooling can conjure sourness or saltiness.  While some people can experience both ends of the thermal spectrum, others can only sense one side or the other.  Those of us who do not experience this mysterious flavor sensation through heating or cooling of the tongue are called Thermal non-tasters (TnTs).

TnTs

However, thermal non-tasters shouldn’t feel left out.  Just because you cannot taste flavor without food or beverages, doesn’t mean that temperature doesn’t affect the way you do taste food and beverages.  Most people still experience a difference in flavor when their food or beverages are heated or cooled.

In Dr. Pickering’s journal, Chemosensory Perception, the intensity of sweet, sour, bitter, and astringent (i.e. cranberry juice, or grape fruit) solutions were tested on all different types of tasters.  The results showed that astringency and sourness were more intense and lasted longer when warm, whereas bitterness was more intense when cold; flavor declined faster as well when cold.  Interestingly, sweetness produced no difference in intensity whether hot or cold but did take longer to reach maximum flavor intensity while cold.

Therefore, we conclude that whether you are a supertaster or non-taster, or a thermal taster or thermal non-taster, you can still experiment and enhance flavors with temperature alone.  Go ahead and heat up that ice cream, grape fruit, or potato chip and tell us what you think!  Do you have a food or beverage that you prefer warmer or cooler than the average temperature suggestion?

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States (FEMA) was founded in 1909 and is the national association of the U.S. flavor industry.  FEMA’s membership is comprised of flavor manufacturers, flavor users, flavor ingredient suppliers, and others with an interest in the U.S. flavor industry.  The association is committed to ensuring a safe supply of flavor ingredients used in foods and beverages enjoyed by billions of men, women, and children around the world.