The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the color of carbonated water affected perception of its taste.
I became interested in this idea because I wanted to do something like a taste test. At first I was thinking about testing soft drinks. Then I saw a project done by Krista Garcia in 2003 as a 7th grader. I knew it was exactly the kind of experiment I wanted to do. I decided to make some changes to her idea that might make it better. My project is called “Drink color vs. Taste perception.”
The information gained from this experiment will be useful to caterers, cooks, or anyone who is involved in food or drink preparation.
My first hypothesis was
that color would affect the perceived taste of the flavored water.
I based my first hypothesis on previous research done by Krista Garcia. She stated,”...the color of the flavored carbonated water affected the reported taste.”
My second hypothesis was that the red food coloring would be most effective in misleading the perceived taste.
My third hypothesis was that lemon-lime flavored water would be most unaffected by misleading colors.
The constants in this study were:
- The amount of carbonated water tasted (20ml)
- Brand of flavored, sugar free carbonated water
- Size, color, and type of tasting cup
- Grade of subject
- Temperature of carbonated water (7°C)
- Location experiment took place
- Experimenter interacting with subject
- Type and amount of food coloring
- Procedures used
The manipulated variable was the color of the carbonated water.
The responding variable was the percentage of times subjects accurately identified the taste.
To measure the responding variable I will count the number of correct responses.
QUANTITY |
ITEM DESCRIPTION |
1
|
Box of gloves (latex
free)
|
4 liters
|
Unsweetened Carbonated
Water, Lemon Lime flavored
|
4 liters
|
Unsweetened Carbonated
Water, Strawberry Flavored
|
4 liters
|
Unsweetened Carbonated
Water, Tangerine Flavored
|
500
|
DIXIE cups
|
1
|
Refrigerator that has a
temperature of 7°C
|
1
|
Garbage can
|
30
|
Response Sheets
|
1
|
Box of Pens or Pencils
|
1
|
Pack of food coloring
(Green, Orange, & Red)
|
1
|
One Liter Liquid Measuring
Cup (that can measure 20ml)
|
1. Collect permissions
slips before experiment is conducted (subjects may not participate without the
slips.)
2. Create response sheet for subjects to use during tastings.
3. Prepare carbonated water:
a. Buy 4 liters of each flavor of sugar-free carbonated water at the grocery store (strawberry, tangerine, & lemon-lime) also buy 500 small drinking cups to serve carbonated water and food coloring with the colors of green, red, and orange or yellow.
b. Select one flavor of water to color. Into a one-liter bottle of this flavor add five drops of red food coloring.
c. Shake bottle gently for 12 seconds to spread the color.
d. Refrigerate bottle at 7°C
e. Repeat steps b-d with another bottle of this same flavor but add the next food color in this list (green, red, or orange.)
f. Repeat step e until all 3 bottles of this flavor are different colors.
g. Repeat steps b-f with three bottles of the next flavor.
h. Repeat step g with each of the last flavor.
4. Move 6 desks in testing classroom so that none of the subjects can communicate or see each other’s paper.
5. Wash desktops.
6. Bring a group of 6 students into testing room and seat them
7. Read subjects the instructions and answer any questions. Tell them they may quit at any time.
8. Give each subject a response sheet and a pencil.
9. Pourer and server must wash hands before serving liquids or touching cups and put gloves on.
10. Conduct trial using the Sampling Order table.
a. The pourer, who is hidden from the subjects, puts 20 ml. of the correct color and flavor carbonated water for this trial into 6 of the small sample cups.
b. Server (only) gives subjects the carbonated water.
c. Tell subjects to taste it then mark on the response sheet the flavor they think the water is. Make sure the response is marked for this trial and color.
d. Repeat steps 10 a-d until all four colors of water have been tasted for this trial.
11. Conduct the remaining
three trials repeating step 10.
12. Thank the subjects and
send them back to class
13. Collect response sheets
and discard used cups.
14. Wash desktops. Wash hands.
15. Repeat steps 6-14 for the rest of the groups that you test.
16. Tally correct responses using Sampling Order sheet as a guide.
17. Average scores
RESULTS
The original purpose of
this experiment was to determine whether the color of carbonated water affected
perception of its taste.
The results of the experiment were that strawberry flavored water was correctly identified most (2.0 of 3.0 possible), and lemon-lime was the least often identified (1.6 of 3.0 possible). The waters colored red were identified correctly least often (1.7 of 3.0 possible) and orange colored water was identified correctly most (1.9 of 3.0).
The results of the experiment were that strawberry flavored water was correctly identified most (2.0 of 3.0 possible), and lemon-lime was the least often identified (1.6 of 3.0 possible). The waters colored red were identified correctly least often (1.7 of 3.0 possible) and orange colored water was identified correctly most (1.9 of 3.0).
CONCLUSION
My first hypothesis was
that color would affect the perceived taste of the flavored water.
The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be accepted, but the difference is extremely small.
My second hypothesis was that the red food coloring would be most effective in misleading the perceived taste.
The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be accepted, because red colored water had the fewest correct taste identifications (so it was most misleading.)
My third hypothesis was that lemon-lime flavored water would be most unaffected by misleading colors.
The results indicate that my third hypothesis should be rejected because the strawberry flavor was identified correctly the most frequently.
Because of the results of this experiment I wonder how accurately people could identify the flavors with no coloring at all. It is possible that these flavors are not easy to identify no matter what. I am also interested in doing this test using adults compared to kindergarteners. Really young kids might be more affected by the colors.
If I were to conduct this project again I would use all unsweetened carbonated water. I would include many more subjects in my study.
Researched by --- Cayley Rishor
