How does our sense of smell compare to man's best friend?
-There are 10 million receptor cells in the human olfactory epithelium!
-In dogs, there are 1 billion!
-The human olfactory epithelium has an area of 10 sq. cm.
-Dogs have an epithelium area of 170 sq. cm.
-A dog's olfactory center is more than 40x's bigger than ours.
As human beings, we have two chemical senses. One of them is our sense of smell. We call it a chemical sense because what we smell are of course chemicals! Our ability to smell serves several roles. Horrible smells can be signs of warning for us. Believe it or not, we even have our own unique smell that other such as family members, can indetify us with. Smell can influence memories we have, our moods, and even our taste!
How does our smell affect our taste?? Here's something to try.
Here's a list of things you need:
1. Any type of flavor extract
2. 20 oz. of water
3. Any type of dropper
With your dropper, put about 10 drops of the extract into the water. Mix well. Afterwards, be sure to hold your nose and take a sip. Repeat, "Hold your nose!" Be sure to notice what it tastes like. After you swallow, take another sip while holding your nose, but before you swallow, let go. Now do you notice any taste? If you did this right, you should have not noticed any flavor on your first sip. On your second sip after releasing your nose, you should recognize the taste of your extract.
Why does this happen??
In ingredients such as extracts, we believe our taste buds are telling us the flavor of what we're tasting. In fact, it has no taste at all! It's our olfactory system, our smell that notices the extract. We associate that smell with the appropriate taste and that's why we think we're tasting the extract when we're really smelling it! Some tastes really do smell!!