Cover -- TItle Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- About the Authors -- Chapter 1 What is Taste? -- Four basic tastes, as proposed by Aristotle -- Taste is complex -- Most food ingredients are tasteless, odorless, and colorless -- Variations in odor during fermentation and aging due to changes in molecular weight -- 2% is not a small amount -- Chapter 2 The Origins of Taste: Why do we Taste? -- Sweetness is for identifying energy sources (Carbohydrates) -- Umami is a tool used to search for proteins -- Carbohydrates are for sweetness, proteins are for umami, but what are lipids for? -- Saltiness: the ocean was the source of all life -- The role of salt in cooking is not merely to provide saltiness -- The contrast effect -- The suppression effect -- Acidity monitors the biological metabolism -- Bitterness: if it's bitter, spit it out! -- Some people enjoy bitter tastes -- The reason we consume caffeine despite its bitterness -- The olfactory sense is the dominant sensory perception of animals -- The search for food -- Avoid danger! -- Know who it is! -- Find a mate! -- References -- Chapter 3 Taste is General Science -- Taste improves with harmonized combinations -- The taste of meals = saltiness + umami + savory flavor -- The taste of dessert (and fruit) = sweetness + sourness + sweet odor -- Tastes influence odors -- Food has to be dissolved for us to taste and chewed to enhance the taste -- The main ingredients influence taste and odor -- Sound has an influence on taste -- Visuals, colors, and food styles -- Why does color exist? -- The basic structure of pigment: why are there no naturally blue foods? -- Perception varies with individual differences and conditions -- Differences due to age and sex -- Individual variation is also significant -- Differences due to race and history.

The preference for smells is constantly changing -- References -- Chapter 4 How do we Smell Odors? -- Olfactory receptors are G-protein coupled receptors -- G-Receptors differentiate isomers, resulting in different odors -- G-Receptors perceive multiple chemical substances -- G-Receptors work simply as on/off switches -- Depending on the binding affinity to receptors, similar molecules can be recognized as completely different tastes and odors -- The broad spectrum of the olfactory sense -- The transduction of sensory signals -- Olfactory fatigue is also a functional activity for life -- The recognition and integration of perceptions -- Parts of the brain -- Continuous circulations in the loop -- G-Receptors can perceive light -- Understanding G-receptors can provide many answers -- Pheromones are not mysterious substances -- References -- Chapter 5 What Creates Smell? -- Odorous molecules are mainly created by plants -- Why do plants produce aroma compounds? -- Attracting bacteria, insects, and animals -- As a defensive mechanism -- Attacking tools -- Coincidental byproducts -- Animals generally smell odorants, not produce them -- Animal-origin raw materials -- Unconditional surrender to pheromones -- Is body odor a coincidental byproduct? -- Most flavors that we enjoy are created by cooking -- Flavor production by enzymatic or microbial fermentations -- Flavor production by heat processes -- Flavor production by pyrolysis: smoke flavor -- Compound flavor: creation of new flavors by mixing various odors -- References -- Chapter 6 Technological Advancements Brought about by the Love of Flavors -- Why do people combine flavors? -- How many flavors are there in the world and how many ingredients are required to make all of these flavors?.

How many odorous chemicals are needed to create a tomato flavor? -- Perfumers and flavorists create flavors -- Olfactory training: flavorists must first distinguish odorous chemicals before creating compound flavors -- Compounding flavors: aromas are completed through imagination -- To become a perfumer, a heavy smoking habit and age do not matter -- The important factor is harmony -- Applications of compound flavors -- Types of odorants -- Synthetic flavors versus natural flavors: which is safer? -- Advantages and limitations of natural flavors -- Advantages and limitations of compound flavors -- References -- Chapter 7 How Flavors Influence us -- Brain development began with the olfactory sense -- The human olfactory sense is less sensitive and inarticulate -- Humans' sense of smell has degenerated greatly -- Proust phenomenon: odor-evoked autobiographical memory -- Sensorial preference changes destinies -- Do silkworms only eat mulberry leaves? -- Humans live with smells -- Stage of development -- What happens if you can no longer feel taste or smell? -- Are humans free from pheromones -- The healing power of aromas -- Aromatherapy -- Aromachology -- Phytoncide -- Is geosmin foul or pleasant? -- Multiple chemical sensitivity (mcs): there are people who are really intolerant to odorous chemicals -- References -- Chapter 8 Taste is Regulated by Flavor, and Flavor is Regulated by the Brain -- The sense of smell is directly connected to the imbic system, in other words, to survival and emotion -- Neuroplasticity in the brain -- Is synesthesia a malfunction or a blessing? -- Taste is a typical phenomenon of synesthesia and neuroplasticity -- Orbitofrontal cortex: where sight, taste, smell, and touch meet -- Taste is a part of pleasure, and that pleasure becomes a part of taste.

Experience affects taste: familiar foods are preferred -- The feeling of disgust can be acquired through learning -- Taste is affected by temperature -- Price: expectation affects the taste -- Prejudices are effective at distorting perceived senses -- Even the data from an expert research firm cannot promise success in sales -- Sensorial perception is an illusion -- Taste and aroma do not exist -- A good product image makes it taste better -- References -- Chapter 9 The Future of Taste and Aroma -- Raw ingredient resources gradually become simplified and their original aromas disappear -- More scientific technologies will be incorporated into the culinary arts -- What is the difference between cooking and the processing of foods? -- Aroma-releasing television or movies -- Is the taste of processed foods inferior to that of natural foods? -- Is it true that obsessions with flavors and seasonings have decreased? -- Do technological developments of taste modifications induce obesity or become a key solution to the problem? -- Technology of satiety: technology of cognitive science for taste and olfactory senses is the technology of the future -- Satiety control -- The era of supernormal stimuli -- References -- Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks -- References -- Index -- Food Science and Technology Books -- Supplemental Images -- EULA.