The Sunday roast on our dinner tables has the potential to be packed with bags more natural flavour, say scientists at The University of Nottingham.

Researchers have developed a series of tests that for the first time accurately measure the normality of taste (gustatory function) and smell (olfactory function) in young children, according to a new study published in the July 2008 edition of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

The research group led by Professor Makoto Tominaga and Research Assistant Professor Hitoshi Inada (National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan) found that a sour taste receptor, PKD1L3-PKD2L1 channel complex, could be activated by acid stimulus but opened gate only after the removal of acid stimulus. They call this new type of response as "off-response" of sour taste receptor.

Does coffee in a flimsy cup taste worse than coffee in a more substantial cup? Firms such as McDonalds and Starbucks spend millions of dollars every year on disposable packaging, but a new study from the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that trying to skimp in this area might not be worth it – and may negatively impact consumers’ perceptions of taste and quality.

Despite the significance of taste to both human gratification and survival, a basic understanding of this primal sense is still unfolding.

That fruit fly hovering over your kitchen counter may be attracted to more than the bananas that are going brown; it may also want a sip of your carbonated water. Fruit flies detect and are attracted to the taste of carbon dioxide dissolved in water, such as water found on rotting fruits containing yeast, concludes a study appearing in the August 30 issue of the journal Nature.

Previous studies have shown that there is a very weak correlation between experts’ judgments of cultural entertainment, such as movies, and popular judgments.