Can trigeminal sensations impact saltiness perception? A mini-review

Many food companies have begun to reduce the salt content in their products due to health concerns; however, this reduction in salt content can affect the food's sensory appeal and flavour complexity. Flavour is defined as a combination of odour (i.e., smell), taste (i.e., gustation) and trigeminal sensations (i.e., chemesthesis). Trigeminal sensations are a protective mechanism integral to a human's warning system. Unlike odours and tastes, which interact with olfactory receptors on the epithelium and gustatory receptors on the tongue, chemical irritants act on the pain, temperature, and touch receptors in the oral region. These chemical irritants can lead to sensations such as burning, heat, cooling, and fizziness. This trigeminal stimulation can potentially increase the perception of other tastes and odours. A relationship between trigeminal stimulants (e.g., capsaicin) and the perceived salty taste of food products has been identified. However, this effect on saltiness perception can often be eclipsed by accompanying undesirable sensory characteristics, such as sourness, bitterness, metallic, and burning sensations, resulting in decreased consumer acceptability. Furthermore, the chemical irritants' volatility, reactivity, and low solubility can limit their use in the food industry. This mini-review will characterize the cross-modal interactions of trigeminal stimulants on saltiness perception, as well as discuss their mechanism of action and sensory studies that investigated the use of chemical irritants to enhance saltiness perception. © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.