How long does it take to identify a candy flavor when you cannot smell it? About 80 to 90 percent of what you perceive as taste actually comes from your sense of smell. Block the nose and flavor nearly vanishes.
You have a volunteer close their eyes and hold their nose. Place a Life Saver on their tongue. Time how long it takes them to name the flavor. As the candy dissolves, scent molecules travel from the back of the throat up to the nose. This "back door" route may eventually reveal the flavor.
Repeat the test with the nose open and eyes still closed. Compare the two times. The gap shows how much your nose speeds up flavor recognition.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that smell plays a major role in how we experience taste.
Taste perception uses signals from your tongue and nose together. Your nose does most of the work. A volunteer holds their nose and tries to name a candy flavor. The time gap between nose-plugged and nose-open rounds shows how much smell helps.
Your sensory systems for smell and taste work together. About 80 to 90 percent of what you perceive as taste actually comes from your sense of smell. Block the nose and flavor nearly vanishes, showing how much these two senses depend on each other.
Your sense of smell shapes how you taste food. About 80 to 90 percent of what you sense as taste comes from smell. Block the nose and flavor nearly vanishes. You can test this by timing how long it takes to name a candy flavor with the nose held shut versus open.
Method & Materials
You will have one person close their eyes and hold their nose, while another feeds them a lifesaver without telling them the flavor. The person will try to guess what flavor the life saver is, without letting go of their nose.
You will need Life Savers or other flavored candies.
The results of this experiment show that smell plays a major role in how we experience taste. When the person was not able to smell the candy, it took them much longer to guess the flavor.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how our senses work together to create the flavors we experience.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include trying different types of candy, or having the person guess the flavor with their eyes open.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
