The Effect of Color of Carbonated on Perception of Its Taste 

Researched by Krista G.
2002-03

 PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the color of carbonated  water affected the perception of its taste.

I became interested in this idea because I have always wanted to know more about human behavior.

The information gained from this experiment will be useful to caterers, cooks, or any other people involved in food preparation. 



HYPOTHESIS

My first hypothesis was that color would affect the perceived taste of the flavored water.

My second hypothesis was that the red food coloring would be most effective in misleading the perceived taste.

My third hypothesis was that orange-flavored water will be the most unaffected by misleading colors.

I based my first hypothesis on previous research done by Emily Beemer in 2001.   She stated, "…seventh graders, when presented with a flavored soda that is colored its "expected" color, have been "conditioned" to believe orange will be orange."  Her research can be found at http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2001/EmmaB.html.



 EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

  • The amount of carbonated water tasted (25ml)
  • Brand of flavored, sugar-free carbonated water
  • Size, color, and type of tasting cup
  • Grade of subjects
  • Temperature of carbonated water (7*C)
  • Place experiment took place
  • Experimenter interacting with subject
  • Type and amount of food coloring
  • Procedures used
The manipulated variable was the color of the carbonated water. 

The responding variable was the percentage of times subjects accurately identify the taste. 

To measure the responding variable I will count the number of correct responses.



MATERIALS
 
 
QUANTITY  ITEM DESCRIPTION
1 box of plastic gloves (latex-free)
4 liters  Unsweetened carbonated water, orange-flavored
4 liters  Unsweetened carbonated water, raspberry-flavored
4 liters Unsweetened carbonated water, lime-flavored
240-300 DIXIE cups
1  Refrigerator that has a temperature of 7*C
20 Human subjects (10 male, 10 female in 7th grade)
1 garbage can
1 Package of Post It sticky notes
1  pen or pencil
1 Pack of food coloring
1 One liter liquid measuring cup
1 plastic spoon

 
 



 PROCEDURES

1. Into a two-liter bottle of orange-flavored, sugar-free carbonated water, drop ten drops of orange food coloring. 
2. Shake bottle gently for 10 sec. to spread color 
3. Refrigerate bottle at 7*C
4. Repeat steps one to three using the same flavored water but the next food coloring in this list (red, green, blue, and yellow).
5. Repeat step 4 until all four bottles of that flavor have been colored.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 with 4 bottles of raspberry flavored water.
7. Repeat steps 1-5 with 4 bottles of lemon-lime flavored water. 
8. Send out permission slips getting 10 male and 10 female 7th graders. 
9. Use sampling table and pour each of the 12 samples.

10. Take student into room, seat them, and explain to them what they will be doing.
11.  Have subject sample one of the samples (following sampling table).
12. Have subjects report to experimenter what flavor they it is.
13. Record on experimenting table whether each flavor has been correctly of incorrectly identified. 
14.  Repeat steps 11-13 until all 12 samples have been sampled and identified.
15. Clean up by throwing away all cups that have been sampled and gloves.
16. Wash hands and put knew gloves on hands.
17. Repeat steps 9-16 until all 20 subjects have been tested. 
 
 



  RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine weather color affected the perceived taste of the carbonated water.

The results of the experiment were that all four colors affected the perceived taste of all three flavors. Green was the most misleading color to perceive the taste and raspberry was the most strongly identified.

See my table and graph.



CONCLUSION

My first hypothesis was that color would affect the perceived taste of the flavored water.
The results indicate that the first hypothesis should be accepted because the color of the flavored carbonated water affected the taste.

My second hypothesis was that the red food coloring would be most effective in misleading the perceived taste.

The results indicate that the second hypothesis should be rejected because the red food coloring was not the most misleading, but the green color was.

My third hypothesis was that orange-flavored water will be the most unaffected by misleading colors.

The results indicate that the third hypothesis should be rejected because the raspberry was the most unaffected by misleading colors.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if other flavors would be more strongly identified than the raspberry flavor. Would flavored carbonated water with sugar affect the outcome? Would brand affect the results? I also would like to use different age groups and contrast their similarities and difference.

If I were to conduct this project again I would use more subjects along with more samples. Lastly, I would duplicate the whole experiment over again, to have more accurate results. 


 

Research Report

Introduction

Accuracy to human perception in taste and color is important to many occupations such as cooks and caterers. Color is one of the main factors to prevent an accurate perception of human taste. The risk of an unhealthy body is at stake if the accuracy of human perception in color is impossible.

Taste

 Taste is one of the five senses that picks up the dissolved chemicals in a solid food or a liquid. Taste affects dietary foods, which includes how much is eaten and the habits of eating. Dislike of food can cause a poor diet, which can affect the health of the human body.  Taste is closely related to smell in that it is what causes flavor to occur. When a nose is stuffy all of the flavors of food or liquid taste similar. If there is no moisture or fat in a food or liquid, there is no way of there being any flavor. Taste is important to the health of the human body. 

Taste Process

First in the tasting process a solid piece of food or liquid is put into the mouth. The receptor cells that are out in the open, bring in the food or liquid molecules. Next the receptor cells ?which are connected to a nerve, tells what chemicals are composed in that food or liquid sample. Some chemicals are very easily identified and some harder for a receptor cell. After that, the message the receptor cell sent through the connected nerve makes its way back to the brain stem. The taste message then will be separated in categories or by which chemical responded to it depending on which nerve carried its message. Finally the taste message moves back to the front of the brain stem to the thalamus and the flavor of the food or liquid is tasted. This process seems very long but it happens in a split second, so right as the food is being swallowed the taste is in the mouth.

Tongue

The tongue is a slab of muscle that is in the mouth. It is what helps to articulate words and to taste. It can only perceive four different tastes- sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. It is one of the main organs to taste. The tongue is able to identify these flavors because of the papillae that are located on the tongue’s surface.

Papillae and Taste Buds

Many people think that the bumps on the tongue are taste buds. This is true in that the bumps do contain taste buds and so much more. "Papille" is a group of taste buds that are grouped together. Inside the group of taste buds are tiny cells called "receptor cells." On the front of the tongue the papillae is only connected to one nerve, while the papillae on the sides, middle, and back are connected to one nerve. So when the chemicals in the food come into contact with the receptor cells the front papillae receptor cells detect the chemical and send a message to the brain using only one nerve. This works the same with the middle, back and sides only sending their message through to nerves. The bumps on the tongue are actually called "papillae." The papillae that are arranged in rows on the tongue’s surface are called "Filiform papillae". The filiform papillae is so big that it contains taste buds that contain "chemreceptor cells." There are a total of 10,000 of these on the whole tongue.  They are also located inside the nose. The job of the chemreceptor cells are to pick up the chemicals in the food or liquid either in air or in the mouth. Each chemreceptor cell has microscopic hairs that notify the nerve impulse when food chemicals land on them. Some chemreceptor cells recognize most all chemicals while some only know a few.

Smell

Smell is also another major sense in the tasting process. When food is eaten the airborne chemicals are detected by the chemrecetor cells in the nose. Without smell it is very hard to identify a flavor because the chemicals wouldn’t fully be identified making the flavor unrecognizable

Flavor

The flavor is what is tasted in the chemicals by the receptor cells message to the brain. Smell gives more than taste in perceiving the flavor. Flavor is affected by many factors such as temperature.

Color

The only light colors that the eye can see are red, green, and blue. The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow and can be mixed to form all of the other colors in the color wheel.

Sight

Seventy percent of the body’s receptor cells are found in the eye. This percentage is so high because of all that there is to see in the world. Eyes can not see, but collect light on the retina and later the brain forms a picture-this is why people cannot see in the dark. The iris of an eye is a muscle and its job is to change the size of the small hole, which lets light into the pupil. In your eyes there are cells called "rods." Rods can only see black and white and a "cone" is what sees color. Sight comes from the brain (this is where the image is formed) not the eye. The eye picks up the light and color.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnhart L. Clarence, and Thorndike E.L. Intermediate Dictionary. Illinois: Scott Foresman and Company, 1993. Pp.672

Bunsen berg, Bonnie. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co., 1994. 

Burnie, David. The Concise Encyclopedia of the human Body. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995 pp. 75
 

Harpern, P. Bruce "Taste." World Book Encyclopedia. 2002. Pp.50-51

"Five Senses." November 1, 2002 <http://www.uen.org/utahlink/lp_res/TRBO28.html>

"Mystery of the Scenes." PBS.1995

Sharp, Pat. Brain Power. New York: Lothrup, Lee and Shepard Books, 1984. Pp.10-30



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to give a big thanks to ……

  •  My Advanced Science teacher for holding after school work time sessions so I could keep caught up on my science project and finish it on time. I would also like to say thank you for editing and looking over my work and for giving his time to help me!
  • Mrs. Helms for always answering my questions and helping my with my experiment preparation and for taking pictures during I too! 
  •  My family for their support and never ending assistance in whatever area of my project and for doing whatever they could to help me reach for my best in the area of advanced science.
  •  My immediate science teacher for letting me miss a block of her class time each week so that I could go to advanced science- without this time I wouldn’t be doing a science project!
  • The IRB committee for taking the time to look over my experiment and project and make sure that it would be a safe atmosphere for everyone.

 

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