title: Scents boost preference for novel fruits.
abstract: When faced with a novel food, multisensory information that includes appearance and smell is a very important cue for preference, categorization, and the decision of whether or not to eat it. We elucidated whether olfactory information leads to biased visual categorization of and preference for fruits, even when odors are presented subliminally. We employed morphed images of strawberries and tomatoes combined with their corresponding odorants as stimuli. Participants were asked to categorize the images into either of two categories, to evaluate their preference for each visual image, and to judge the presence/absence of the odor. Results demonstrated that visual categorization was not affected by the odor manipulation; however, preference for uncategorizable images increased when odors were presented regardless of the participant's awareness of the odor. Our findings suggest that visual preference for novel fruits is based on both conscious and unconscious olfactory processing regarding edibility.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan. Electronic address: yamadayuk@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, 6-19-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoshiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials & Technology Research, Corporate Research & Development Division, Takasago International Corporation, 1-4-11 Nishiyawata, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 254-0073, Japan.
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kunieda
authors.affiliation: Sensory and Cognitive Food Science Laboratory, National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003463:Cues; D005518:Food Preferences; D031985:Fragaria; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011897:Random Allocation; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Awareness; Edibility; Morphing; Visual–olfactory interaction