Abstract
Our food choices and consumption behaviours are often influenced by odour hedonics, especially in the case of those orthonasally experienced aromas (that is, those odours that are food-related). The origins of odour hedonics remain one of the most intriguing puzzles in olfactory science and, over the years, several fundamentally different accounts have been put forwards to try and explain the varying hedonic responses that people have to a wide range of odorants. Associative learning, innate and molecular accounts of odour pleasantness have all been suggested. Here the origins of the hedonic response to vanilla, which is one of the most liked smells cross-culturally, are explored. The history of vanilla’s use in food and medicine is outlined, with a focus on its neurocognitive appeal. While vanilla is one of the most widely liked aromas, it is also rated as smelling sweet to most people. Food scientists are becoming increasingly interested in the possibility that such ‘sweet smells’ could be used to help maintain the sweetness of commercial food products while, at the same time, reducing the use of calorific sweeteners. Such an approach is likely to be facilitated by the low cost of artificial vanilla flavouring (when compared with the high and fluctuating price of natural vanilla pods).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
McGann, J. P. Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth. Science 356, eaam7263 (2017).
Spence, C. Using ambient scent to enhance well-being in the multisensory built environment. Front. Psychol. 11, 598859 (2020).
Spence, C. Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Heathier Living (Viking Penguin, 2021).
Croy, I., Bojanowski, V. & Hummel, T. Men without a sense of smell exhibit a strongly reduced number of sexual relationships, women exhibit reduced partnership security—a reanalysis of previously published data. Biol. Psychol. 92, 292–294 (2013).
Spence, C. The scent of attraction & the smell of success: crossmodal influences on person perception. Cogn. Res. 6, 46 (2021).
Croy, I., Negioas, S., Novakova, L., Landin, B. N. & Hummel, T. Learning about the functions of the olfactory system from people without a sense of smell. PLoS ONE 7, e33365 (2012).
Sharma, A. et al. Sense of smell: structural, functional, mechanistic advancements and challenges in human olfactory research. Curr. Neuropharmacol. 17, 891–911 (2019).
Spence, C. Leading the consumer by the nose: on the commercialization of olfactory-design for the food and beverage sector. Flavour 4, 31 (2015).
Spence, C. Enhancing the experience of food and drink via neuroscience-inspired olfactory design. Senses Soc. 12, 209–221 (2017).
Hutmacher, F. Why is there so much more research on vision than on any other sensory modality? Front. Psychol. 10, 2246 (2019).
Spence, C. On the psychological impact of food colour. Flavour 4, 21 (2015).
Spence, C. & Levitan, C. A. Explaining crossmodal correspondences between colours and tastes. i-Perception https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695211018223 (2021).
Herz, R. The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell (William Morrow, 2007).
Khan, R. M. et al. Predicting odor pleasantness from odorant structure pleasantness as a reflection of the physical world. J. Neurosci. 27, 10015–10023 (2007).
Yeshurun, Y. & Sobel, N. An odor is not worth a thousand words: from multidimensional odors to unidimensional odor objects. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 61, 219–241 (2010).
Soudry, Y., Lemogne, C., Malinvaud, D., Consoli, S. M. & Bonfils, P. Olfactory system and emotion: common substrates. Euro. Ann. Otorhinolaryngol. 128, 18–23 (2011).
Stevenson, R. J. & Boakes, R. A. in The Handbook of Multisensory Processing (eds Calvert, G. A. et al.) 69–83 (MIT Press, 2004).
Aikman, L. Perfume, the business of illusion. Natl Geogr. 99, 531–550 (1951).
Moran, T. Ah, the aroma of a just-baked sedan. The New York Times (14 May 2000).
Moran, T. Sniffing car parts: yes, the job stinks. The New York Times (14 May 2000).
Arshamian, A. et al. A mammalian blood odor component serves as an approach-avoidance cue across phylum border—from flies to humans. Sci. Rep. 7, 13635 (2017).
Mandairon, N., Poncelet, J., Bensafi, M. & Didier, A. Humans and mice express similar olfactory preferences. PLoS ONE 4, 4209 (2009).
Spence, C. Factors affecting odour-induced taste enhancement. Food Qual. Pref. 96, 104393 (2022).
Joussain, P., Chakirian, A., Kermen, F., Rouby, C. & Bensafi, M. Physicochemical influence on odor hedonics: where does it occur first? Commun. Integr. Biol. 4, 563–565 (2011).
Caballero, B. The global epidemic of obesity: an overview. Epidemiol. Rev. 29, 1–5 (2007).
Arshamian, A. et al. The perception of odor pleasantness is shared across cultures. Curr. Biol. 32, P2061–P2066.E3 (2022).
Rain, P. Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2004).
Kaiser, R. Meaningful Scents Around the World: Olfactory, Chemical, Biological, and Cultural Considerations (Wiley, 2006).
Pangborn, R. M., Guinard, J.-X. & Davis, R. G. Regional aroma preferences. Food Qual. Pref. 1, 11–19 (1988).
Ayabe-Kanamura, S. et al. Differences in perception of everyday odors: a Japanese–German cross-cultural study. Chem. Senses 23, 31–38 (1998).
Schleidt, M., Neumann, P. & Morishita, H. Pleasure and disgust: memories and associations of pleasant and unpleasant odours in Germany and Japan. Chem. Senses 13, 279–293 (1988).
Seo, H.-S., Buschhüter, D. & Hummel, T. Odor attributes change in relation to the time of the year. Cinnamon odor is more familiar and pleasant during Christmas season than summertime. Appetite 53, 222–225 (2009).
Wada, Y. et al. Infant visual preference for fruit enhanced by congruent in-season odor. Appetite 58, 1070–1075 (2012).
De Araujo, I. E., Rolls, E. T., Velazco, M. I., Margot, C. & Cayeux, I. Cognitive modulation of olfactory processing. Neuron 46, 671–679 (2005).
Herz, R. S. & von Clef, J. The influence of verbal labelling on the perception of odors: evidence for olfactory illusions? Perception 30, 381–391 (2001).
Bensafi, M., Rinck, F., Schaal, B. & Rouby, C. Verbal cues modulate hedonic perception of odors in 5-year-old children as well as in adults. Chem. Senses 32, 855–862 (2007).
Djordjevic, J. et al. A rose by any other name: would it smell as sweet? J. Neurophysiol. 99, 386–393 (2008).
Cain, W. S. in Preference Behavior and Chemoreception (ed. Kroeze, J. H. A.) 303–315 (IRL, 1979).
Poncelet, J. et al. Semantic knowledge influences prewired hedonic responses to odors. PLoS ONE 5, 13878 (2010).
Rouby, C., Pouliot, S. & Bensafi, M. Odor hedonics and their modulators. Food Qual. Prefer. 8, 545–549 (2009).
Distel, H. et al. Perception of everyday odors – correlation between intensity, familiarity and strength of hedonic judgment. Chem. Senses 24, 191–199 (1999).
Faas, M. M., Melgert, B. N. & de Vos, P. A brief review on how pregnancy and sex hormones interfere with taste and food intake. Chemosens. Percept. 3, 51–56 (2010).
Kringelbach, M. L., O’Doherty, J., Rolls, E. T. & Andrews, C. Sensory-specific satiety for the flavour of food is represented in the orbitofrontal cortex. NeuroImage 11, S767 (2000).
Rolls, E. T. & Rolls, J. H. Olfactory sensory-specific satiety in humans. Physiol. Behav. 61, 461–473 (1997).
Brand, G. & Millot, J.-L. Sex differences in human olfaction: between evidence and enigma. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 54B, 259–270 (2001).
Spence, C. Do men and women really live in different taste worlds? Food Qual. Prefer. 73, 38–45 (2019).
Joussain, P., Thevenet, M., Rouby, C. & Bensafi, M. Effect of aging on hedonic appreciation of pleasant and unpleasant odors. PLoS ONE 8, e61376 (2013).
Zhao, J. B. et al. The chemosensory pleasure scale: a new assessment for measuring hedonic smell and taste capacities. Chem. Senses 44, 457–464 (2019).
De Wijk, R. A. & Zijlstra, S. M. Differential effects of exposure to ambient vanilla and citrus aromas on mood, arousal and food choice. Flavour 1, 24 (2012).
Saint-Bauzel, R. & Fointiat, V. The sweet smell of the requester: vanilla, camphor, and foot-in-the-door. Soc. Behav. Personal. 40, 369–374 (2012).
Demetros, V. A. M. The sweet smell of success. The Crafts Report https://go.nature.com/3SVA9Iy (1997).
Hultén, B. Sensory cues and shoppers’ touching behaviour: the case of IKEA. Int. J. Retail Distrib. Manage. 40, 273–289 (2012).
Fetterman, J. & O’Donell, J. Just browsing the mall? That’s what you think. USA Today http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-09-01-retail-cover-usat_x.htm (2006).
Trivedi, B. Recruiting smell for the hard sell. New Sci. 2582, 36–39 (2006).
Hoppough, S. What’s that smell? Forbes https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1002/076.html#3ef667ec5377 (2006).
Herz, R. S. in Sensory Marketing: Research on the Sensuality of Products (ed. Krishna, A.) 87–107 (Routledge, 2010).
Abreu-Runkel, R. Vanilla: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2020).
Ecott, T. Vanilla: Travels in Search of a Luscious Substance (Michael Joseph, 2004).
Youssef, J. & Spence, C. Introducing diners to the range of experiences in creative Mexican cuisine, including the consumption of insects. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 25, 100371 (2021).
Sethi, S. The bittersweet story of vanilla. Smithsonian Magazine https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bittersweet-story-vanilla-180962757/ (2017).
Gamboa-Gaitán, M. A. & Otero-Ospina, J. T. Colombian vanilla and its microbiota. III. Diversity and structure of the endophytic community. Acta Bot. Hung. 58, 241–256 (2016).
Hotta, M. et al. Useful Plants of the World (Heibonsha, 1989).
Khoyrattya, S., Kodjac, H. & Verpoorte, R. Vanilla flavor production methods: a review. Ind. Crops Prod. 125, 433–442 (2018).
Nishi, T. Shokubutsu-no hanashi arekore 7. Puranta 64, 49–53 (1999).
Dignum, M. J. W., Kerler, J. & Verpoorte, R. Vanilla curing under laboratory conditions. Food Chem. 79, 165–171 (2002).
Walton, N. J., Mayer, M. J. & Narbad, A. Vanillin. Phytochemistry 63, 505–515 (2003).
Soto-Arenas, M. A. & Cribb, P. A new infrageneric classification and synopsis of the genus Vanilla Plum. ex Mil. (Orchidaceae: Vanillinae). Lankesteriana 9, 355–398 (2010).
Bythrow, J. D. Vanilla as a medicinal plant. Semin. Integr. Med. 3, 129–131 (2005).
Bezerra, D. P., Soares, A. K. & de Sousa, D. P. Overview of the role of vanillin on redox status and cancer development. Oxid. Med. Cell Longev. 2016, 9734816 (2016).
Bezerra, D. P., Soares, A. K. & de Sousa, D. P. Therapeutic potential of vanillin and its main metabolites to regulate the inflammatory response and oxidative stress. Mini-Rev. Med. Chem. 19, 1681–1693 (2019).
Cheng, H. M. et al. Oral administration of vanillin improves imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin inflammation in mice. J. Agric. Food Chem. 65, 10233–10242 (2017).
Fitzgerald, D. J. et al. Mode of antimicrobial action of vanillin against Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus plantarum and Listeria innocua. J. Appl. Microbiol. 97, 104–113 (2004).
Fitzgerald, D. J., Stratford, M. & Narbad, A. Analysis of the inhibition of food spoilage yeasts by vanillin. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 86, 113–122 (2003).
Cameron, K. M. in Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology (eds Havkin-Frenkel, D. & Belangerp, F. C.) 243 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
Morini, G., Winnig, M., Vennegeerts, T., Borgonovo, G. & Bassoli, A. Vanillin activates human bitter taste receptors TAS2R14, TAS2R20, and TAS2R39. Front. Nutr. 8, 683627 (2021).
Draycott, J. in Smell and the Ancient Senses (ed. Bradley, M.) 60–73 (Routledge, 2015).
Huber, B., Larsen, T., Spengler, R. N. & Boivin, N. How to use modern science to reconstruct ancient scents. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01325-7 (2022).
Classen, C., Howes, D. & Synnott, A. Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell (Routledge, 1994).
Ranadive, A. S. in Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology (eds Havkin-Frenkel, D. & Belanger, F. C.) 141–160 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
Diamond, A. Make Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for ice cream. The Smithsonian Magazine https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thomas-jefferson-ice-cream-recipe-180975200/ (2020).
Kerr, J. History of chocolate. Field Museum http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/history.html (2007).
Newquist, H. P. The Book of Chocolate: The Amazing Story of the World’s Favorite Candy (Viking, 2017).
Macinnis, P. Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar (Allen & Unwin, 2002).
Mintz, S. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History (Penguin, 1985).
Mintz, S. in The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (ed. Korsmeyer, C.) 110–122 (Berg, 2005).
Spence, C. & Youssef, J. Personalized rock: a nostalgic fairground revival confection. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 17, 100150 (2020).
Muchembled, R. Smells: A Cultural History of Odours in Early Modern Times (Polity, 2021).
Ogawa, K., Tashima, A., Sadakata, M. & Morinaga, O. Appetite-enhancing effects of vanilla flavours such as vanillin. J. Nat. Med. 72, 798–802 (2018).
Chemistry in its Element—Vanillin (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016); http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/CIIEcompounds/transcripts/vanillin.asp
Dignum, M., Kerler, J. & Verpoorte, R. Vanilla production: technological, chemical and biosynthetic aspects. Food Res. Int. 17, 199–219 (2001).
Vanilla is anything but plain. Givaudan https://www.givaudan.com/taste-wellbeing/market-drivers/naturals/vanilla (2016).
Derval, D. The Right Sensory Mix: Targeting Consumer Product Development Scientifically (Springer, 2010).
Kuo, Y.-L., Pangborn, R. M. & Noble, A. C. Temporal patterns of nasal, oral, and retronasal perception of citral and vanillin and interaction of these odourants with selected tastants. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 28, 127–137 (1993).
Sakai, N., Kobayakawa, T., Gotow, N., Saito, S. & Imada, S. Enhancement of sweetness ratings of aspartame by a vanilla odor presented either by orthonasal or retronasal routes. Percept. Motor Skills 92, 1002–1008 (2001).
Oliveira, A. A. A. et al. Use of strawberry and vanilla natural flavors for sugar reduction: a dynamic sensory study with yogurt. Food Res. Int. 139, 109972 (2021).
Alcaire, F., Antúnez, L., Vidal, L., Giménez, A. & Ares, G. Aroma-related cross-modal interactions for sugar reduction in milk desserts: influence on consumer perception. Food Res. Int. 97, 45–50 (2017).
Hoppert, K. et al. Consumer acceptance of regular and reduced-sugar yogurt enriched with different types of dietary fiber. Int. Dairy J. 28, 1–7 (2013).
Velázquez, A. L., Vidal, L., Varela, P. & Ares, G. Cross-modal interactions as a strategy for sugar reduction in products targeted at children: case study with vanilla milk desserts. Food Res. Int. 130, 108920 (2020).
Wang, G., Hayes, J. E., Ziegler, G. R., Roberts, R. F. & Hopfer, H. Dose-response relationships for vanilla flavor and sucrose in skim milk: evidence of synergy. Beverages 4, 73 (2018).
Guo, J., Han, X., Zhan, J., You, Y. & Huang, W. Vanillin alleviates high fat diet-induced obesity and improves the gut microbiota composition. Front. Microbiol. 9, 2733 (2018).
Takai, E. et al. Effect of olfactory stimulation with vanilla odor on degree of electrical activity to control gastrointestinal motility. In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Access to Media, Learning and Assistive Environments HCII 2021 (eds Antona, A. & Stephanidis, C.) 519–530 (Springer, 2021); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78095-1_38
Kermen, F. et al. Molecular complexity determines the number odour notes and the pleasantness of smells. Sci. Rep. 1, 206 (2011).
Sezille, C., Fournel, A., Rouby, C., Rinck, F. & Bensafi, M. Hedonic appreciation and verbal description of pleasant and unpleasant odors in untrained, trainee cooks, flavorists, and perfumers. Front. Psychol. 5, 12 (2014).
Zarzo, M. Hedonic judgments of chemical compounds are correlated with molecular size. Sensors 11, 3667–3686 (2011).
Schiffman, S. S. Physiochemical correlates of olfactory quality. Science 185, 112–117 (1974).
Engen, T. in Perfumery: The Psychology and Biology of Fragrance (eds Van Toller, S. & Dodd, G. H.) 79–90 (Chapman & Hall, 1988).
Hermans, D. & Baeyens, F. in Olfaction, Taste, and Cognition (eds Rouby, C. et al.) 119–139 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002).
Sell, C. Structure-odor relationships: on the unpredictability of odor. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 45, 6254–6261 (2006).
Keller, A. et al. Predicting human olfactory perception from chemical features of odor molecules. Science 355, 820–826 (2017).
Clarke, R. J. Coffee Vol. 1 (Springer, 2013).
Rapp, A. Natural flavours of wine: correlation between instrumental analysis and sensory perception. Fresen. J. Anal. Chem. 337, 777–785 (1990).
Spence, C. & Wang, Q. J. On the meaning(s) of complexity in the chemical senses. Chem. Senses 43, 451–461 (2018).
Tao, Y. S. & Li, H. Active volatiles of cabernet sauvignon wine from Changli county. Nat. Sci. 1, 176–182 (2009).
Dunkel, A. et al. Nature’s chemical signatures in human olfaction: a foodborne perspective for future biotechnology. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 7124–7143 (2014).
Gu, F., Chen, Y., Fang, Y., Wu, G. & Tan, L. Contribution of Bacillus isolates to the flavor profiles of vanilla beans assessed through aroma analysis and chemometrics. Molecules 20, 18422–18436 (2015).
Toth, S., Lee, K. J., Havkin-Frenkel, D., Belanger, F. C. & Hartman, T. G. in Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology (eds Havkin-Frenkel, D. & Belanger, F. C.) 183–218 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
Zhang, S. & Mueller, C. Comparative analysis of volatiles in traditionally cured bourbon and Ugandan vanilla bean (Vanilla planifolia) extracts. J. Agric. Food Chem. 60, 10433–10444 (2012).
Gleason-Allured, J. Vanilla: anything but plain. Perfumer and Flavorist http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/application/vanilla/132347233.html (2011).
Lapid, H., Harel, D. & Sobel, N. Prediction models for the pleasantness of binary mixtures in olfaction. Chem. Senses 33, 599–609 (2008).
Balogh, R. D. & Porter, R. H. Olfactory preferences resulting from mere exposure in human neonates. Infant Behav. Dev. 9, 395–401 (1986).
Ishii, K. Does mere exposure enhance positive evaluation, independent of stimulus recognition? A replication study in Japan and the USA. Jpn Psychol. Res. 47, 280–285 (2005).
Monahan, J. L., Murphy, S. T. & Zajonc, R. B. Subliminal mere exposure: specific, general and affective effects. Psychol. Sci. 11, 462–466 (2000).
Pliner, P. The effects of mere exposure on liking for edible substances. Appetite 3, 283–290 (1982).
Varendi, H., Porter, R. H. & Winberg, J. Attractiveness for amniotic fluid odor: evidence for prenatal learning? Acta Paediatr. 85, 1223–1227 (1996).
DeSnoo, K. Das trinkende kind im uterus [The drinking child in the uterus]. Monat. Geburtshilfe Gynäkol. 105, 88 (1937).
Marlier, L., Schaal, B. & Soussignan, R. Neonatal responsiveness to the odor of amniotic and lacteal fluids: a test of perinatal chemosensory continuity. Child Dev. 69, 611–623 (1998).
Schaal, B., Marlier, L. & Soussignan, R. Neonatal responsiveness to the odour of amniotic fluid. Biol. Neonate 67, 397–406 (1995).
Parker, G. H. & Stabler, E. M. On certain distinctions between taste and smell. Am. J. Physiol. 32, 230–240 (1913).
Sullivan, R. M. et al. Olfactory classical conditioning in neonates. Pediatrics 87, 511–518 (1991).
Doucet, S., Soussignan, R., Sagot, P. & Schaal, B. The secretion of areolar (Montgomery’s) glands from lactating women elicits selective, unconditional responses in neonates. PLoS ONE 4, e7579 (2009).
Allen, J. New Yorkers sample cheese made from human breast milk. Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cheese-breastmilk-idUSTRE7413X020110502 (2011).
Chappell, B. Breast milk ice cream a hit at London store. NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/02/25/134056923/breast-milk-ice-cream-a-hit-at-london-store (2011).
Shah, K. Oh great, breast milk ice cream is back. Eater https://www.eater.com/2015/4/24/8491303/breast-milk-ice-cream-london-the-lickators-royal-baby (2015).
Haller, R., Rummel, C., Henneberg, S., Pollmer, U. & Köster, E. The influence of early experience with vanillin in food preference later in life. Chem. Senses 24, 465–467 (1999).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. The infant’s responses to flavored milk. Infant Behav. Dev. 17, 819 (1994).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. Early flavor experiences: when do they start? Nutr. Today 29, 25–31 (1994).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. The human infants’ response to vanilla flavors in mother’s milk and formula. Infant Behav. Dev. 19, 13–19 (1996).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. in Obesity Prevention: The Role of Brain and Society on Individual Behavior (eds Dubé, L. et al.) 203–217 (Elsevier, 2010).
Newman, J. How breast milk protects newborns. Scientific American 76–79 (December 1995).
Hepper, P. G. Adaptive fetal learning—prenatal exposure to garlic affects postnatal preferences. Anim. Behav. 36, 935–936 (1988).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. Maternal diet alters the sensory qualities of human milk and the nursling’s behavior. Pediatrics 88, 737–744 (1991).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. The transfer of alcohol to human milk: effects on flavor and the infant’s behavior. New Engl. J. Med. 325, 981–985 (1991).
Pollmer, U. Novel foods: flavour design and malnutrition. Agrofoodindustry Hi-Tech 2, 43–45 (1991).
Capretta, P. J., Petersik, J. T. & Steward, D. J. Acceptance of novel flavours is increased after early experience of diverse taste. Nature 254, 689–691 (1975).
Forestell, C. A. Flavor perception and preference development in human infants. Ann. Nutr. Metab. 70, 17–25 (2017).
Galef, B. G. & Sherry, D. F. Mother’s milk: a medium for transmission of cues reflecting the flavour of mother’s diet. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 83, 374–378 (1973).
Jerome, N. W. in Taste and Development: The Genesis of Sweet Preference (ed. Weiffenbach, J. M.) 235–248 (US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1977).
Steiner, J. E. in Advances in Child Development and Behaviour Vol. 13 (ed. Reese, H. W.) 257–295 (Academic, 1979).
Soussignan, R., Schaal, B., Marlier, L. & Jiang, T. Facial and autonomic responses to biological and artificial olfactory stimuli in human neonates: re-examining early hedonic discrimination of odors. Physiol. Behav. 62, 745–758 (1997).
Mennella, J. A. & Beauchamp, G. K. Infants’ exploration of scented toys: effects of prior experience. Chem. Senses 23, 11–17 (1998).
Schaal, B., Marlier, L. & Soussignan, R. Human foetuses learn odours from their pregnant mother’s diet. Chem. Senses 25, 729–737 (2000).
Mennella, J. A., Jagnow, C. P. & Beauchamp, G. K. Prenatal and postnatal flavor learning by human infants. Pediatrics 107, e88 (2001).
Hausner, H., Bredie, W. L. P., Mølgaard, C., Petersen, M. A. & Møller, P. Differential transfer of dietary flavour compounds into human breast milk. Physiol. Behav. 95, 118–124 (2008).
Loos, H. M., Reger, D. & Schaal, B. The odour of human milk: its chemical variability and detection by newborns. Physiol. Behav. 199, 88–99 (2019).
Ventura, A. K. & Mennella, J. A. Innate and learned preferences for sweet taste during childhood. Curr. Opin. Clin. Nutr. Metab. Care 14, 379–384 (2011).
Holy, T. E. Scenting Waldo: analyzing olfactory scenes. Nat. Neurosci. 17, 1144–1145 (2014).
Rokni, D., Hemmelder, V., Kapoor, V. & Murthy, V. N. An olfactory cocktail party: figure-ground segregation of odorants in rodents. Nat. Neurosci. 17, 1225–1232 (2014).
Rokni, D. & Murthy, V. N. Analysis and synthesis in olfaction. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 5, 870–872 (2014).
Spence, C. Flavour pairing: a critical review of the literature on food and beverage pairing. Food Res. Int. 133, 109124 (2020).
Spence, C. Gastrophysics: getting creative with pairing flavours. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 27, 100433 (2022).
Moskowitz, H. R., Dravnieks, A. & Klarman, L. A. Odor intensity and pleasantness for a diverse set of odorants. Percept. Psychophys. 19, 122–128 (1976).
Doty, R. et al. Intranasal trigeminal stimulation from odorous volatiles: psychometric responses from anosmic and normal humans. Physiol. Behav. 20, 175–185 (1978).
Frasnelli, J., Hummel, T., Berg, J., Huang, G. & Doty, R. L. Intranasal localizability of odorants: influence of stimulus volume. Chem. Senses 36, 405–410 (2011).
Kobal, G. & Hummel, T. Olfactory and intranasal trigeminal event-related potentials in anosmic patients. Laryngoscope 108, 1033–1035 (1998).
Savic, I., Gulyás, B. & Berglund, H. Odorant differentiated pattern of cerebral activation: comparison of acetone and vanillin. Human Brain Mapp. 17, 17–27 (2002).
Wu, S. W., Fowler, D. K., Shaffer, F. J., Lindberg, J. E. M. & Peters, J. H. Ethyl vanillin activates TRPA1. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 362, 368–377 (2017).
Midroit, M. et al. Neural processing of the reward value of pleasant odorants. Curr. Biol. 31, 1592–1605.e9 (2021).
Wilson, D. A. & East, B. S. Good scents: a short road from olfaction to satisfaction. Curr. Biol. 31, R374–R376 (2021).
Mennella, J. A., Pepino, M. Y. & Reed, D. R. Genetic and environmental determinants of bitter perception and sweet preferences. Pediatrics 115, e216–e222 (2005).
Eriksson, N. et al. A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference. Flavour 1, 22 (2012).
Mauer, L. & El-Sohemy, A. Prevalence of cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) disliking among different ethnocultural groups. Flavour 1, 8 (2012).
McGee, H. Cilantro haters, it’s not your fault. The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=0 (2010).
Wysocki, C. J. & Beauchamp, G. K. Ability to smell androstenone is genetically determined. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 81, 4899–4902 (1984).
Howgego, J. Sense for scents traced down to genes. Nat. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2013.13493 (2013).
Reed, D. R. & Knaapila, A. Genetics of taste and smell: poisons and pleasures. Progr. Mol. Biol. Transl. Sci. 94, 213–240 (2010).
Jaeger, S. R. et al. A Mendelian trait for olfactory sensitivity affects odor experience and food selection. Curr. Biol. 23, 1601–1605 (2013).
McRae, J. F. et al. Identification of regions associated with variation in sensitivity to food-related odors in the human genome. Curr. Biol. 23, 1596–1600 (2013).
Pelchat, M. L., Bykowski, C., Dule, F. F. & Reed, D. R. Excretion and perception of a characteristic odor in urine after asparagus ingestion: a psychophysical and genetic study. Chem. Senses 36, 9–17 (2011).
Plotto, A., Barnes, K. W. & Goodner, K. L. Specific anosmia observed for β-ionone, but not for α-ionone: significance for flavour research. J. Food Sci. 71, 401–406 (2006).
Simmen, D. & Briner, H. R. Olfaction in rhinology—methods of assessing the sense of smell. Rhinology 44, 98–101 (2006).
Axel, R. The molecular logic of smell. Sci. Am. 273, 154–159 (1995).
Ravia, A. et al. A measure of smell enables the creation of olfactory metamers. Nature 588, 118–123 (2020).
Schaal, B., Saxton, T. K., Loos, H., Soussignan, R. & Durand, K. Olfaction scaffolds the developing human from neonate to adolescent and beyond. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 375, 20190261 (2020).
Wilson, D. A. & Stevenson, R. J. Learning to Smell (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2006).
Blank, D. M. & Mattes, R. D. Sugar and spice: similarities and sensory attributes. Nurs. Res. 39, 290–293 (1990).
Hsiao, Y.-Y. et al. Research on orchid biology and biotechnology. Plant Cell Physiol. 52, 1467–1486 (2011).
Herz, R. S. et al. A three-factor benefits framework for understanding consumer preference for scented household products: psychological interactions and implications for future development. Cogn. Res. 7, 28 (2022).
Wang, X. et al. Support for natural small-molecule phenols as anxiolytics. Molecules 22, 2138 (2017).
Hunt, S. R. Sugar and spice. Pharmaceut. J. 191, 632–635 (1963).
Beauchamp, G. K. Why do we like sweet taste: a bitter tale? Physiol. Behav. 164, 432–437 (2016).
Beidler, L. M. in Sweeteners: Issues and Uncertainties Vol. 4, 11–18 (National Academy of Sciences, 2016).
Moskowitz, H. in Sugars in Nutrition (eds Sipple, H. L. & McNutt, K. W.) 37–64 (Academic, 1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Food thanks Moustafa Bensafi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Spence, C. Odour hedonics and the ubiquitous appeal of vanilla. Nat Food 3, 837–846 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00611-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00611-x