Taste

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle called sensations arising from the mouth taste and those arising from the nose olfaction. However, Aristotle did not know that there are two kinds of olfaction. One kind occurs when odorants (volatiles) sniffed through our nostrils are pulled up high in the nasal cavity where they stimulate receptors and send a message to the brain: This process is called orthonasal olfaction. The second kind of olfaction occurs when we eat foods. Chewing and swallowing forces volatiles up behind the palate into the nasal cavity from the rear: This process is retronasal olfaction. These two kinds of olfaction project to different areas of the brain. Retronasal olfaction is integrated with taste into flavor. This poses a problem. The word taste can ...