A new study by Aarhus University researchers demonstrates that coffee — regular or decaffeinated — alters the subsequent perception of taste, specifically by increasing the sensitivity to sweet and decreasing the sensitivity to bitter.
Fjaeldstad & Fernandes provide the first evidence of how coffee impacts short-term taste sensitivity and consequently the way we sense and perceive food following coffee consumption, an important insight in the context of gastronomy as well as in chemosensory testing procedures. Image credit: Katie175.
“This study sheds some light on a new aspect of our knowledge about our senses of smell and taste,” said Dr. Alexander Wieck Fjældstad, corresponding author of the study.
“We already know that our senses have an effect on each other, but it’s a surprise that our registration of sweetness and bitterness is so easily influenced.”
In the study, 156 participants had their sense of smell and taste tested before and after drinking coffee.
Dr. Fjældstad and his colleague, Dr. Henrique Fernandes, found no changes in their sense of smell, but they found that the sense of taste was affected.
“When people were tested after drinking coffee, they became more sensitive to sweetness, and less sensitive to bitterness,” Dr. Fjældstad said.
To rule out the possibility that caffeine in the coffee could be a factor, the scientists repeated the experiment using decaffeinated coffee and found similar results.
“It’s probably some of the bitter substances in the coffee that create this effect,” Dr. Fjældstad said.
“This may explain that if you enjoy a piece of dark chocolate with your coffee, its taste is much milder, because the bitterness is downplayed and the sweetness is enhanced.”
The team’s results maybe provide us with a better understanding of how our taste buds work.
“More research in this area could have significance for how we regulate the way in which we use sugar and sweeteners as food additives,” Dr. Fjældstad said.
“Improved knowledge can potentially be utilised to reduce sugar and calories in our food, which would be beneficial for a number of groups, including those who are overweight and diabetes patients.”
The study was published in the journal Foods.
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Alexander W. Fjaeldstad & Henrique M. Fernandes. 2020. Chemosensory Sensitivity after Coffee Consumption Is Not Static: Short-Term Effects on Gustatory and Olfactory Sensitivity. Foods 9 (4): 493; doi: 10.3390/foods9040493
