Retronasal aroma allows feature extraction from taste of a traditional Japanese confection

Abstract

Abstract Background Common foods consist of several taste qualities. Consumers perceive intensity of a particular taste quality after noticing it among other taste qualities when they eat common foods. We supposed that while one is eating the facility for noticing a taste quality present in a common food will differ among taste qualities which compose the common food. We, therefore, proposed a new measurement scale for food perception named ‘noticeability’. Furthermore, we found that consumers’ food perceptions to common foods were modified by retronasal aroma. In this study, in order to examine whether retronasal aroma affects the relationship between noticeability and perceived intensity for taste, we evaluated participants for noticeability and perceived intensity of five fundamental taste qualities (sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness, and umami) under open and closed nostril conditions using one of the most popular traditional Japanese confections called ‘yokan’. Results The taste quality showed that the highest noticeability and perceived intensity among five fundamental taste qualities for yokan was sweetness, independent of the nostril condition. For sweetness, a significant decrease of correlation between noticeability and perceived intensity was observed in response to retronasal aroma. On the other hand, for umami, correlation between noticeability and perceived intensity significantly increased with retronasal aroma. Conclusions As the retronasal aroma of yokan allowed feature extraction from taste by Japanese consumers, we reconfirmed that consumers’ food perceptions were modified by the retronasal aroma of a common food.