From the Editor
Smelling with your . . . Tongue? Part II
In last month’s column I wrote about pioneering research that is uncovering new and amazing
Luis Ayala
facts about our gustatory system, especially our tongues’ ability to “smell.” Since its publication, the article has encouraged many of our readers to contact me with questions, comments, stories and/or additional information related to this fascinating field of study.
I am particularly thankful to the scientists and medical experts (who are also rum aficionados) who pointed out the world of oral somatosensory awareness, especially as it relates to the concept of mouth feel.
The notion of mouth feel refers to our awareness of the state of our oral cavity and is still full of mysteries. According to Patrick Haggard and Lieke de Boer, from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (University College London, UK), “Many oral sensations have a strongly-valenced quality of pleasantness and unpleasantness, which cuts across the modality of the actual physical stimulus. This ‘somaesthetic’ aspect of oral somatosensory awareness has a strong link to oral health, and perhaps even to appetite and well-being more generally. However, the signals and circuits that underlie ‘mouth feel’ remain poorly understood.”
If mouth feel is hard to understand in the absence of external chemical stimuli, imagine it when bombarded with ethanol, higher alcohols, acids, aldehydes and a wide range of their related esters! some tasters will report “grainy,” “roundness,” “stringy” or other somaesthetic sensations, which are clearly not part of the physical composition of the stimulants, yet are perceived as such within the oral cavity. Furthermore, the emotional reactions to the above stimuli are linked to each individual’s history, making it very hard -if not impossible- for food and beverage scientists (and master blenders) to unlock the code of “universal” flavor and mouth feel acceptance.
Cheers,
Luis Ayala
Editor and Publisher