Food & Wine Philosphy

Question: Discuss about the Food Wine Philosphy. Answer: Introduction While smell and taste are two critical sensory qualities of food, but the underlying systems which produce these are essentially quite different as is apparent from a brief description of the two systems. Olfactory System The odour present in food is first detected by the olfactory receptor cells which tend to be found in mucus membrane situation at the nasal cavities top. Even though these cells occupy an area of more than a square inch but about 25 million receptor cells are located in each cavity (Doty, 2009). These cells have a life of 60 days after which they are completely replenished. As only about one-tenth of surrounding air enters the nasal cavity, hence sniffing aids in odour concentration when then leads to olfactory epithelium (Dowdey, n.d.). As the molecules of the odour tend to get dissolved into the surrounding olfactory receptors mucus membrane, axons are sent through the cribiform plate to the base of the brain where these are received by the olfactory bulb. This leads to the sense of aroma (NIH, nd). Gustatory System There are various chemicals and tastants that are present in the food and are sensed by the taste buds that are present on the tongue. These tend to lie inside small protuberances known as papillae. Besides, certain more taste buds are also located on the palate. The taste bud is a specialised structure which contains about 50-100 sensory cells which tend to .experience stimulation while coming in contact with various tastants (like acid, sugar, salt) (Trivedi, 2012). Presence of simulation here causes transfer of signal to the nerve fibres end. These in turn send impulse through the aid of three cranial nerves to the brainstem. Further, these impulses are then transmitted to gustatory cortex which leads to taste perception. The conscious effect of the taste is through the specific impulse action through certain nerves directed by the gustatory cortex along with thalamus (Hutchins. n.d.). References Dowdey, S. n.d. How Smell Works, [Online] Available from https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/smell2.htm [Accessed March 5, 2017] Doty, R. 2009, The Olfactory System and Its Disorders.Seminars in Neurology, 29(1).Pp.74-81 Hutchins. M. n.d. Chapter 9: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation, [Online] Available from https://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s2/chapter09.html [Accessed March 5, 2017] NIH n.d. Olfactory System, [Online] Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0025088/ [Accessed March 5, 2017] Trivedi, B. P. 2012, Gustatory system: The finer points of taste, Nature, 486(1), S2-S3