Intra-oral trigeminal-mediated sensations influencing taste perception: A systematic review

Food perception is a multimodal sensation which implies cross-modal interplays. Tactile, thermal, painful and kinaesthetic stimuli arising from food intake may impact on flavour perception, especially taste perception. The influence of oral somatosensory signals on food taste perception remains unclear. The aim of the present systematic review was to appraise the effects of oral mechanical, thermal, chemical and pain sensations on taste perception. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, a search of the literature from 1968 to 2018 was conducted using MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE and clinical trials (PROSPERO registration reference: CRD42018100176). A total of 105 articles were included for analysis. The results from this review suggest that taste abilities and taste perception are frequently modified by food textural and chemical properties. Furthermore, saliva features, dental and prosthetic status and oral pain can also modulate taste perception. Biological and physiological phenomena underlying these results may be involved such as tastant release, tastant detection, taste transduction and central trigemino-gustatory interplays.