ABSTRACT
Tasting is the sensorial capacity to perceive flavor. This chapter focuses on the underlying neural mechanisms. How do we taste and what is involved in tasting? The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) definition of flavor gives an important clue with regard to tasting. It states that flavor is “the complex combination of the olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal sensations perceived during tasting. Flavor may be influenced by tactile, thermal, painful, and/or kinesthetic effects.”1 This is the scientific definition and uses words that may not belong in the common vocabulary. Therefore, olfactory implies the involvement of the nose, gustatory is about the participation of the tongue (and mouth), and trigeminal refers to the nerve that mediates the sense of touch in the region of the mouth. Apparently the last mentioned aspects are found to be so important that the extent of these effects is elaborated upon (tactile, thermal, painful, and/or kinesthetic effects). The gustatory, olfactory, and trigeminal elements of flavor refer to three different sensorial systems, and therefore, the ISO definition implies that these three senses are directly involved in tasting: smell, gustation, and touch. The word gustation (from the Latin gustare) is used rather than taste to prevent misunderstandings. Gustation is “just” one of the senses that are involved in tasting.
