Mentor/s

Dr. Tolga Kaya

Participation Type

Paper Talk

Abstract

How the human tongue processes taste is still a relatively unknown process. While academic research has been done to explain different taste sensations on their own, few have been able to connect multiple gustatory sensations together successfully. In general, research has found that the threshold of pure free hydrogen directly relates to the liquid’s overall sour taste perception. This paper looks into how pH can affect the taste of different liquids. We focused on recording the pH of common household drinks and relating them to the pH of a lemon. Doing this allows us to group all of our tested liquids onto one comprehensible chart. Our results show that the pH of a liquid does correlate to its sour taste perception in humans. This can be shown in the case of milk, having a pH of 6.63, and virgin lemon margarita mix, having a pH of 2.40, tasting differently. However, there must be other aspects that effect sour taste perception shown by both pink lemonade and cranberry juice having similar pH values, 2.59 and 2.55 respectively. We suggest that the visual perception, olfactory perception, and conductivity of the liquid also affects taste perception in general. If one were able to control all four of these aspects, we believe that complete control of gustatory perception is possible, if not probable.

College and Major available

Computer Engineering BS

Location

Panel E: Academic Building SC 202

Start Day/Time

4-20-2018 11:00 AM

End Day/Time

4-20-2018 12:15 PM

Students' Information

*

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Prize Categories

Best Multidisciplinary Research or Collaboration, Most Scholarly Impact or Potential

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Apr 20th, 11:00 AM Apr 20th, 12:15 PM

Electronic Senses: Digitalizing Smells and Tastes

Panel E: Academic Building SC 202

How the human tongue processes taste is still a relatively unknown process. While academic research has been done to explain different taste sensations on their own, few have been able to connect multiple gustatory sensations together successfully. In general, research has found that the threshold of pure free hydrogen directly relates to the liquid’s overall sour taste perception. This paper looks into how pH can affect the taste of different liquids. We focused on recording the pH of common household drinks and relating them to the pH of a lemon. Doing this allows us to group all of our tested liquids onto one comprehensible chart. Our results show that the pH of a liquid does correlate to its sour taste perception in humans. This can be shown in the case of milk, having a pH of 6.63, and virgin lemon margarita mix, having a pH of 2.40, tasting differently. However, there must be other aspects that effect sour taste perception shown by both pink lemonade and cranberry juice having similar pH values, 2.59 and 2.55 respectively. We suggest that the visual perception, olfactory perception, and conductivity of the liquid also affects taste perception in general. If one were able to control all four of these aspects, we believe that complete control of gustatory perception is possible, if not probable.

 

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