Fat in foods may impact taste perception

25th July 2012
Institute of Food Technologists

A study published in Chemosensory Perception shows that fats in food may activate certain regions of the brain, thereby influencing how flavors are perceived.

The researchers aimed to determine how the brain responds to changes in the fat content of four different fruit emulsions participants tasted. The researchers used a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to view the participants’ brain activity upon tasting the emulsions. All samples were of the same thickness and sweetness, but one contained flavor with no fat, while the others contained fat with different flavor release properties.

The researchers discovered that when the non-fatty sample was tasted, the somatosensory cortices and the anterior, mid, and posterior insula, regions (that control perception of flavor) were significantly activated more than when the fatty emulsions were tasted, even though they had the same flavor perception. They noted, however, that increased activation in these regions doesn’t necessarily mean that flavor perception is increased.

“This is the first brain study to assess the effect of fat on the processing of flavor perception and it raises questions as to why fat emulsions suppress the cortical response in brain areas linked to the processing of flavor and reward. It also remains to be determined what the implications of this suppressive effect are on feelings of hunger, satiety and reward,” concluded study author Joanne Hort, Associate Professor of Sensory Science at the University of Nottingham.

Chemosensory Perception – Does Fat Alter the Cortical Response to Flavor?
July 2012

Link: