Scientists have discovered that an orange or cream-coloured cup definitely makes chocolate taste better, while a white or red cup will not enhance the flavour. The discovery demonstrates once again that our taste buds are definitely influenced by the colours our eyes perceive.
Published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, the research by scientists at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Oxford University involved 57 participants. They had to taste the same type of hot chocolate in cups of four external colours — white, cream, red and orange — and white interior. The results were clear: all of them thought the chocolate in the orange and cream cups was better than the others, even while it was the exact same type. Some even said that the chocolate in the cream cups tasted sweeter and was more aromatic.
We already knew that the colour of food itself may affect our perception of taste. A spicy food, for example, will be perceived as hotter as the same food if it’s redder. We also knew that recipients may affect the flavour but the relationship is still not well understood. There are no common rules and it changes depending on the food itself, says Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, one of the authors of the study:
The colour of the recipient where you serve food and drinks can enhance some of its attributes, like flavour and aroma. There’s no fix rule to tell which colour enhances what food. This varies depending on the type of food but the truth is that the effect is there. Companies should pay more attention to the recipient because it has a a lot more potential than what you imagine.
The same team made other experiments that confirm all this. One showed that strawberry mousse tastes more intense and sweet in a white plate as opposed to a black one. Soda and lemon-based beverages are more refreshing and lemony in a blue can, while those in pink recipients are perceived as sweeter. Coffee is affected too, with a brown packaging making its taste stronger and more aromatic, red making it less strong and yellow or blue making it smoother. [El Mundo — In Spanish]
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