Augmentation of Perceived Sweetness in Sugar Reduced Cakes by Local Odor Display

Abstract

Multisensory augmented reality systems have demonstrated the potential of olfactory cues in the augmentation of flavor perception. Earlier studies have mainly used commercially available sample products. In this study, custom rye-based cakes with reduced sugar content were used to study the influence of different odorants on the perceived sweetness. A custom olfactory display was developed for presenting the odorants. The results showed that augmentation of a reduced sugar rye-based cake with localized maltol, vanilla, and strawberry odor increased the perceived sweetness of the cake-odor pair compared to a cake with deodorized airflow.