taste

  • A man tears a cocoa fruit in half, revealing the white meat inside.
    chocolate

    ‘Whole fruit’ chocolate could be healthier and more sustainable

    A new kind of chocolate made with more cocoa fruit is healthier, more sustainable, and could boost the incomes of small farmers.
  • A glass of white wine sits on a pink surface.
    wine

    ‘Electronic tongue’ tastes when white wine goes bad

    An "electronic tongue" successfully identified signs of white wine going bad weeks before human experts did.
  • Ants cover a sugar cube.
    sugar

    How insects can tell different sugars apart

    The discovery of how insects can tell different sugars apart could one day help humans mimic that ability, researchers say.
  • A man wearing glasses closes his eyes while eating a burger outside.
    consumers

    Do you crunch, chew, suck, or smoosh food? It affects what you like

    The texture of a hamburger can determine whether consumers enjoy it or not, depending on if they're a cruncher, chewer, sucker, or smoosher.
  • A field of yellow rapeseed flowers with one standing tall against a blue sky in the background.
    plants

    Nixing rapeseed’s bitter taste could lead to new protein source

    Rapeseed is a good source of protein, but is both bitter and unsafe for human consumption. New research is a step toward changing that.
  • A glass of whiskey splashes as an ice cube drops into it.
    taste

    How much water in whiskey is too much?

    If you like water in your whiskey, you might want to go easy. A study shows too much can make different whiskies smell and taste the same.
  • red velvety mite with white rings on legs and white blotches on body
    arachnids

    Why no one wants to eat the giant velvet mite

    After observing that virtually no creature wants to eat a giant velvet mite, entomologist Justin Schmidt tasted one himself.
  • 13 spoons hold variety of fruits, vegetables
    food

    Early life tastes tied to adult food preferences

    There's a strong relationship between diet in early life and food preferences in adulthood, research with mice finds.
  • hands hold plate of food, including beets and sprouts
    food

    Umami gives plant-based menu a Christmas taste

    Your Christmas dinner can be plant-based and full of hearty umami flavor, says food scientist Charlotte Vinther Schmidt.
  • A rat sniffs a sprinkle-covered donut sitting on a pink plate.
    sugar

    Diet high in sugar can lower rats’ ability to taste sweet

    A diet high in sugar can lower the ability of the taste system to sense sweetness, a new study with rats shows.
  • fly on slice of orange
    taste

    Fly brains encode lack of bitterness in a ‘sweet’ way

    A new imaging technique called trans-Tango(activity) reveals how specific neurons in brain circuits of fruit flies respond to stimuli such as sweet and bitter tastes.
  • Two watermelon sections side by side, showing the red flesh, green skin, and black seeds.
    seeds

    Ancient watermelon ancestor reveals a seed surprise

    People initially appear to have collected or cultivated an ancient ancestor of today's watermelon for its seeds, not its flesh, researchers report.