Laughlin, Zoe, Conreen, Martin, Witchel, Harry J and Miodownik, Mark (2011) The use of standard electrode potentials to predict the taste of solid metals. Food Quality and Preference, 22 (7). pp. 628-637. ISSN 0950-3293

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Abstract

Not all metals taste equally metallic when placed in the mouth. While much work has been done to examine the metallic taste sensations arising from metal ions in solutions, there is comparatively less known about the taste of solid metals. In this study seven metals in the form of spoons were used to compare the perception of taste arising from solid utensils placed inside the mouth. 32 participants tasted seven spoons of identical dimensions plated with each of the following metals: gold, silver, zinc, copper, tin, chrome and stainless steel. More negative standard electrode potentials were found to be good predictors of solid metals that had tastes scoring highest for the taste descriptors strong, bitter, and metallic. Thus, it was found that both gold and chrome (having the most positive standard electrode potentials) were considered the least metallic, least bitter and least strong tasting of the spoons. Zinc and copper (having the most negative standard electrode potentials) were the strongest, most metallic, most bitter, and least sweet tasting of the spoons. We conclude that gold and chrome have tastes that are less strong than metals with lower standard electrode potentials

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Clinical and Experimental Medicine Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Neuroscience
Subjects:	Q Science > QP Physiology > QP0351 Neurophysiology and neuropsychology Q Science > QZ Psychology
Depositing User:	Harry Witchel
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2012 10:15
Last Modified:	26 Sep 2017 12:55
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/42118

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