研究：餐具的顏色和形狀會影響食物口感
英國牛津大學的研究人員發現，餐具的大小、重量、形狀及顏色均會對食物的口感產生影響；比如，用白色的勺子吃酸奶會覺得口感更好，而用刀取食奶酪會讓其鹹味更明顯。研究人員表示，食物在被送到嘴裏之前，大腦就已經對其口感做出了判斷。他們發現，當餐具的重量和顏色與大腦預期一致時，食物的口感也會隨之被影響。比如，用平時吃甜點的小勺子吃東西，食物嚐起來會更甜；用白色的勺子吃白色的酸奶會覺得酸奶更甜。研究人員指出，我們對食物的品嚐過程是一個多重感官體驗的過程，包括味覺、食物的口感、香味以及眼睛的觀感。
Our perception of how food tastes is influenced by cutlery, research suggests.
Size, weight, shape and color all have an effect on flavor, says a University of Oxford team.
Cheese tastes saltier when eaten from a knife rather than a fork; while white spoons make yoghurt taste better, experiments show.
The study in the journal Flavour suggests the brain makes judgments on food even before it goes in the mouth.
More than 100 students took part in three experiments looking at the influence of weight, color and shape of cutlery on taste.
The researchers found that when the weight of the cutlery conformed to expectations, this had an impact on how the food tastes.
For example, food tasted sweeter on the small spoons that are traditionally used to serve desserts.
Color contrast was also an important factor - white yoghurt eaten from a white spoon was rated sweeter than white yoghurt tasted on a black spoon.
Similarly, when testers were offered cheese on a knife, spoon, fork or toothpick, they found that the cheese from a knife tasted saltiest.
"How we experience food is a multisensory experience involving taste, feel of the food in our mouths, aroma, and the feasting of our eyes," said Prof Charles Spence and Dr Vanessa Harrar.
"Even before we put food into our mouths our brains have made a judgment about it, which affects our overall experience."
Past research has shown that crockery can alter our perception of food and drink.
For example, people generally eat less when food is served on smaller plates.
The new research into how the brain influences food perceptions could help dieters or improve gastronomic experiences at restaurants, said Prof Spence.
He told BBC News: "There's a lot more to food than what's on the plate. Many things we thought didn't matter do. We're going to see a lot more of neuroscience design around mealtimes."
