Tasting Honey – EthnoPhysics

Sweetness is illustrated by this icon for oral sensations that are honey flavoured.

Any oral sensation that could be vaguely described as tasting like honey, is called a sweet sensation . We use words like yummy, sugary, umami, savoury, candied, spicy, brothy, glazed, meaty, syrupy, etc. to describe flavours in this category.

To make a binary description of sweet sensations, we compare them with other experiences like the reference sensation of tasting honey. But historically, the great pioneers of chemistry have almost killed themselves by getting too close to their discoveries. So nowadays testing supersedes tasting, and we prefer that students consider the following laboratory experiment: Dissolve the substance that is being tested in water, then pass a beam of polarized light through the solution. Check to see if the axis of polarization varies. Report the result using one of the following algebraic statements.

If the angle does not change, then say that the substance is not sweet and write $\delta_{S} \! = \! 0 .$ If the axis is rotated clockwise, then the test indicates a result like most naturally occurring sugars. So say that the substance is sugary, and express this mathematically as $\delta_{S} \! = \! +1 .$ If the axis is rotated counterclockwise, like most naturally occurring amino acids , then call the substance savoury and write $\delta_{S} \! = \! -1 .$ These relations can be concisely stated as

$\delta_{S} \equiv \begin{cases} +1 &{\text{if a sweet sensation is sugary }} \\ \; \; 0 &{\text{if a sensation is not sweet}} \\ -1 &{\text{if a sweet sensation is savoury }} \end{cases}$

The number $\delta_{S}$ is called the sweetness.

Reference Constant for Sweetness

The numerical constant associated with honey is called the sweet constant. It is symbolized by $k_{\mathsf{sweet} }$ and has an observed value of 0.4666 (μeV). For more detail, please see the discussion of hydrogen energy levels.