Why Test Both Smell and Taste?
“Your taste buds may be on your tongue, but aroma compounds are perceived by the olfactory bulb in your nose. It’s accessed through the front of the nose or through the back of your throat when food enters the mouth,” explains Baldwin. “This combined orthonasal (smelling through the front of the nose) and retronasal (the aroma going to the nose through the back of the throat) olfactory testing is really important to those in the citrus industry who are trying to formulate flavors.” So far, giant juice companies like Tropicana, Coca-Cola North America (makers of Minute Maid juices), Florida’s Natural, and Cargill Citro-America have all shown interest in this project and have offered to help find sources of O.J. aroma compounds to help Baldwin and her team. Flavor companies Kerry Food Ingredients and Danisco Cultour have also been supportive. Providing scientific and technical support have been Rene Goodrich, a professor at the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center
