Different sensory aspects of a food are not remembered with equal acuity

In the present study, food memory for three sensory aspects involved in food perception, taste, texture and aroma, is compared. Participants received a lunch including a custard dessert (target) under incidental learning condition. One day later, participants were presented with samples identical to the target and with distractors varying either in sweetness, thickness or cherry aroma. Memory was assessed by an absolute recognition question (¿Did you eat this sample yesterday?¿) and by relative questions (¿Is this sample less, equal or more sweet than the sample you ate yesterday?¿). Results showed better memory performance for sweetness than for the two other sensory aspects, both in the absolute and in the relative tests. Several hypotheses to explain the differences in memory between different sensory aspects of a food are discussed

Food memory and its relation with age and liking: An incidental learning experiment with children, young and elderly people

The present study compared incidental learning and food memory in children, young adults and elderly people for three sensory modalities (taste, texture and aroma). The relation of gender and liker-status (i.e. how much we like a product) with food memory was also investigated. Participants received a complete meal including a custard dessert used as target under incidental learning conditions. 24 h later, participants were confronted with a series of samples consisting of the target and slightly modified versions of the target (distractors) and were unexpectedly asked to perform an ¿absolute memory¿ (¿Did you eat this sample yesterday?¿) and a ¿relative memory¿ test (¿Is the present sample less/equal/more pleasant than the one you ate yesterday?¿). Participants also performed a hedonic and a discrimination test. Memory for the custard was poor and did not depend on age, but it was related to gender, and to how much participants liked the product. Females and high-likers outperformed males and low-likers in the absolute memory task, but they were not better in discriminating the products on both the hedonic and the perceptual dimension. Results also showed that, contrary to common belief, not all sensory aspects that can be discriminated in perception and in liking, are equally well remembered