It was a great pleasure to sit today on the examining committee for the undergraduate thesis of Vinicius de Castro e Silva, of the Institute of Biology, UFRJ, entitled “ALIMENTANDO-SE DE CORES: a influência das cores e dos hábitos alimentares na percepção de sabores por adolescentes” (Feeding on colours: the influence of colours and eating habits on flavour perception in adolescents). I sat on the committee with Prof. Alfred Sholl-Franco (advisor) (IBCCF/UFRJ) and Prof. Natália Liacone (CEDERJ/UFRJ). The work presents interesting empirical research on the influence of colours on flavour perception. To my surprise, when comparing young people with healthy and unhealthy eating habits, the latter were better at inferring which foods were meant from artificial colours and flavourings. This is interesting because it suggests that young people with better eating habits know the original flavours and, perhaps for that reason, found it harder to associate flavours with the artificial colours and aromas given to certain foods. The study’s abstract is below.
ABSTRACT
Eating awakens a multidimensional sensory experience. In a short time, all five senses are engaged, creating different sensations in a complex set of interactions. This study applied two experiments designed to investigate the influence of colours and eating habits on self-perceived flavour in adolescents (12–18 years), divided into self-declared groups of boys (n=30) and girls (n=30). Participants were divided into healthy eating habits [HEH, boys (n=8) and girls (n=8)] and unhealthy eating habits [UEH, boys (n=22) and girls (n=22)] after completing a questionnaire based on the World Health Organization’s parameters for healthy eating. In the first experiment, participants had to associate different foods with standardized colours (red, green, yellow, orange, blue, brown and colourless) presented in transparent tubes, using a specific form. In the second experiment, participants tasted gummy sweets (0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 cm), unflavoured or made with artificial flavours (lemon, orange or strawberry). Unflavoured or flavoured samples could be colourless or green, orange or red. Our results showed stronger colour/food associations among boys with HEH: green/mint and avocado (21%); orange/tangerine (21%); yellow/passion fruit (24%); blue/mint (33%); red/cherry (24%); brown/coffee (29%); colourless/vanilla (33%). Boys with UEH most often associated: green/avocado (22%); orange/tangerine (20%); yellow/passion fruit (18%); blue/mint (51%); red/strawberry (17%); brown/coffee (21%); colourless/vanilla (26%). Girls with HEH most often made the following colour/food associations: green/mint (22%); orange/tangerine (24%); yellow/passion fruit (15%); blue/mint (22%); red/strawberry (20%); brown/coffee (34%); colourless/mint (29%). Girls with UEH most often associated green/lemon (20%); orange/orange (22%); yellow/pineapple (13%); blue/mint (26%); red/strawberry (20%); brown/coffee (18%); colourless/mint (18%). In experiment 2, our results show that boys had more correct answers for the combinations red/strawberry (HEH, 88%; UEH, 91%), orange/orange (HEH, 31%; UEH, 45%) and lemon/green (HEH, 38%; UEH, 59%). Unflavoured gummies were the hardest to identify for boys in both groups (HEH and UEH). Among boys, the highest rate of correct answers in the HEH group was for red (56%), but this group got almost no correct answers with the other colours (orange, 0%; green, 0%; colourless, 6%). In the UEH group, the correct rate for red was 39% and more uniform, though low, for the other samples (orange, 34%; green, 23%; colourless, 30%). Results for girls showed a high correct rate for red (HEH, 44%; UEH, 55%). For combinations using orange flavour, the highest correct rate was with green (HEH, 38%; UEH 52%). Lemon flavour was most easily identified in orange in the HEH group (50%) and in red among girls with UEH (43%). Colourless samples led to higher correct rates among girls with HEH and UEH. Girls with HEH were more accurate with combinations using orange (HEH, 63%; UEH, 59%). Our results show that flavour discrimination can be impaired by inappropriate colouring of fruit representations, so that adolescents’ prior knowledge of colour/food combinations tends to compromise their flavour discrimination. Our data also show a high rate of errors in flavour identification when inappropriate colouring is used (when colour is not a reliable guide to flavour), especially among boys with UEH and among girls regardless of eating habits.
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