Why is tomato juice especially delicious on an airplane? Why does tomato juice taste better on a plane? Expert opinion: tomato juice is healthier than fruit juice
Airplane food tends to seem weird to us. The usual rice or ham seems too dry or simply tasteless. But real metamorphoses occur with tomato juice. Few people like it, but everyone always drinks it on board the plane. It's all about our senses, which behave differently in the air.
Scientists from Cornell University decided to figure out why airplane food seems so strange and what makes passengers order tomato juice during a flight.
It turns out that it’s all about the sounds around us, as well as a decrease in pressure and dry air, reports Day.Az with reference to BG.
It's all about the noise
Our senses are interconnected. And when we rise into the sky on board an airplane, where pressure, humidity and dryness change, our senses are affected by several factors at once. In their study, Robin Dando and Kimberly Yang from Cornell University paid special attention to one of them - sound.
The volume of noise on board an airplane can reach 85 decibels - almost the same level of noise we are exposed to in a car on the roads of a big city.
The study involved 48 volunteers of different ages who listened to airplane sounds at a volume of 80 to 85 decibels using high-sensitivity headphones. They were then tested for their taste perception.
Each participant had to taste a mixture that was dominated by one taste or another: salty, bitter, sour, sweet, or umami (the Japanese term for the hard-to-describe sweet-spicy taste found in foods containing glutamate, such as tomatoes or aged cheese ).
As a result, scientists discovered that loud sound affects some taste buds. In particular, people's perception of sweetness changed, and the taste of umami was stronger. The sound did not affect the receptors responsible for salty, bitter and sour tastes.
The experiment thus shows that a particular taste is the result of a complex interaction of our senses and that it may well be influenced by the atmosphere in which we taste the dish.
Why do we drink tomato juice on the plane?
To check how our taste changes during flight conditions, in 2010, scientists from the Institute of Building Physics named after. Fraunhofer created a flight simulator using an old Airbus, in which scientists could reduce the pressure. The atmosphere inside the Airbus was practically no different from what we experience on board an airplane, except that there were no clouds floating outside the window.
As a result, scientists discovered that the decrease in pressure also affects the taste buds of passengers: it becomes more difficult for them to detect aromatic substances, which largely determine the taste sensation. In addition, at low blood pressure we experience less salty and sweet tastes, and the perception of umami tastes feels almost the same as anywhere else.
Thus, the taste of tomatoes seems more familiar to us than the taste of other foods. Perhaps this is why people prefer tomato juice on an airplane, although in ordinary life they may drink it quite rarely.
It is also possible that due to the decrease in humidity during the flight, our perception of the smell of tomato juice changes.
How airlines are trying to improve the taste of food
Airlines are trying to correct atmosphere-related taste disorders with sauces. It is believed that this approach was first proposed by the French chef Raymond Oliver. In 1973, when he developed the menu for Union de Transports Aériens aircraft, he suggested basting main courses with sauce to prevent the meat from becoming dry due to the heat and dry atmosphere on board the aircraft.
At the same time, surveys show that in Russian supermarkets they most often buy apple, and in most other countries - orange (tomato is in the top five at best). Why do people change their preferences so dramatically at altitude?
There are several explanations for this. Studies have shown that with constant exposure to noise, the sensitivity of taste buds decreases. It is also believed that their sensitivity may be negatively affected by the low air pressure in the aircraft cabin - there it is equivalent to atmospheric pressure at an altitude of approximately 1600-1800 meters on the newest models to 2400 meters on most types in service. When the sensitivity of receptors decreases, people like foods and drinks with a more pronounced taste. And tomato juice contains monosodium glutamate, which gives foods a taste called umami, and enhances everything else.
Therefore, even those who are indifferent to tomato juice on earth, in the sky often give it preference over apple, orange and just water.
There is also a version that tomato juice is perceived as more compatible with food - orange and apple juice are sweet, and we consider them “dessert” drinks. Tomatoes, however, also contain glucose and fructose, but their share is approximately half that of apples and oranges, so sweetness does not dominate the taste of tomato juice.
Tomato juice also has its disadvantages. First, it is not very useful for people with certain gastrointestinal and kidney diseases. Secondly, in the sky there are air pockets- and if you come across one like this, when you have a glass of tomato juice in your hands, your clothes may immediately be ruined.
About wines
In economy class, airlines take high-quality but inexpensive wines (and even now they are not always provided). But in business class cabins, and even more so in first class, carriers try to please passengers who paid several times more for a ticket than others. Of course, you won’t find very expensive collectible wines on airline wine lists (most of which have actually long since become investment goods and will probably never be drunk), but in first class Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines or other service leaders, it is not uncommon for wine to cost around 50 euros per bottle, or even more.
It is customary to offer a choice of several wines for each dish on the menu, and professional sommeliers work on the selection of such combinations. Some airlines even have them on staff - the famous Singapore Air has three of them.
However, due to the reasons already mentioned - noise and low air pressure, the taste of wine may be perceived differently than on earth. The Wine Spectator portal writes that tannins and acids will become more pronounced on an airplane, and there is a physiological reason for this. Upon sensing excess astringents and acidic substances, the body reacts by secreting saliva to dilute them. And the air in the cabin is drier, and a person inevitably experiences a lack of moisture. Therefore, it is better to choose wines with a lighter taste with fruity notes - which is what airlines usually do.
Due to the low pressure and reduced oxygen content in the aircraft cabin, old wines open more slowly. Which, however, is not always a bad thing - connoisseurs can follow the dynamics of changes in aroma and taste.
Perhaps the taste at altitude is indeed perceived as not as refined as on earth, and there is no point in drinking expensive wines on board, awarded with expert awards. But if a passenger pays several thousand euros for a flight, then he has the right to at least see prestigious labels (familiar for many of these passengers).
- The air on an airplane is taken from the atmosphere, and at an altitude of 10 kilometers its water content is very low. Therefore, everyone on board experiences a lack of moisture. Drink more water. Pilots sometimes add lemon to the water, so it quenches thirst better.
- Alcohol and caffeine contribute to dehydration (dehydration) - simply put, water from the body is more intensively drained into the bladder. This increases dryness due to low air humidity. If you drink drinks with caffeine (cola also includes them) or alcohol, drink water. It is not for nothing that moisturizing creams for the face and lips are included in the kit given to passengers in upper classes.
- The idea that low blood pressure itself increases intoxication is not supported by research. However, dry air, lack of oxygen and lack of mobility slow down the processing of alcohol and worsen a person’s general condition. If it is difficult to abstain from alcohol on a flight, then at least drink more water and control your condition.
- Manufacturers of flight catering take into account the decrease in sensitivity, and often salt dishes a little more than is customary in ordinary restaurants on earth. Therefore, you shouldn’t add salt to your food on board, even if your ration package includes a bag of salt or a salt shaker, and you think the food is bland. All studies show that excess salt is harmful to any person, and the point of this additive is solely for taste; a person receives a sufficient amount of sodium chloride, even if he does not add salt to his food at all.
Dictionary
Glutamate- salt of glutamic acid. In vertebrates, it is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses, and is thus involved in functions such as learning and memory. Produced in the human body. Monosodium glutamate is used as a flavor enhancer, especially widely in Southeast Asia.
Umami- translated from Japanese as “pleasant taste.” It is a component of the taste of meat products, some cheeses, and soy sauce. Amino acids and their salts, which create the umami taste, are classified as flavor enhancers - food additives with codes ranging from E600 to E699.
Discovered in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, it was officially recognized as the fifth basic taste (in addition to sour, sweet, bitter and salty) in 1985.
Valery Chusov
Those who fly regularly are most often faced with a difficult choice on board: firstly, fish or meat, and secondly, juice, water, tea or coffee, which are equally offered free of charge by the flight attendants. Many people have noticed at least once that they always want to drink tomato juice on board more than any other, and someone emphasized that for some reason they prefer tomato juice only on the plane, although in ordinary life they do not like it. The Village spoke with experts to find out why tomato juice may taste better in flight than the same juice on the ground.
Damir Yarlushkin
expert of NP "Roskontrol"
Scientists from the American Psychological Association have found that on board an airplane, under the influence of constant loud noise, the sensations from a person’s taste and olfactory receptors change. Due to this, tomato juice with a pronounced umami taste is in particular demand among airline passengers. Umami is the taste of glutamic acid, one of the five tastes that humans can taste (along with sweet, bitter, sour and salty). Due to this change in taste sensations, which is aggravated by the dryer air on the plane, passengers are beginning to give a clear preference to tomato juice.
There's nothing wrong with that. Lightly salted tomato juice helps maintain water-salt balance during the flight. In addition, like fresh tomatoes, it contains a lot of the beneficial antioxidant lycopene.
Yulia Mikheeva
S7 Airlines flight attendant-instructor
Passengers actually order tomato juice much more often than apple or orange juice. Perhaps this is due to the fact that during the flight the pressure changes, the taste intensifies and you want something salty. In addition, tomato juice is richer, with pulp, and can satisfy your hunger faster. Perhaps this factor plays a role.
Orange and apple may seem more sour, but tomato somehow goes well. I know this from myself. When I fly as a passenger, I definitely take it. Tomato juice is ordered probably 30 percent more often than other juices, and it runs out the fastest. That’s why they load more of it on board: sometimes for every ten packs of apple and orange we take 15 tomato packs.
This, by the way, also depends on the direction. For example, when flying east, passengers prefer apple and orange juice. I can’t explain what this is connected with. In Europe, to the West, in Russia - tomato is in the lead.
Pilots rarely drink tomato juice. They usually drink tea, mostly green, and still water, most often with lemon. And I noticed this with the flight attendants. Some flight attendants drink tomato juice and refuse to eat during the flight - apparently because tomato juice is already quite high in calories: it gives energy, and it has an interesting taste, and is salty, and is absorbed well.
The fact that passengers always want to eat more during a flight is clear. Rarely does anyone refuse to eat. This is also due to the fact that a lot of time is spent on the road to the airport, all the airport formalities, so your appetite increases and food in flight seems tastier.
Andrej Duncic
A320 pilot-in-command, S7 Airlines instructor pilot
There was a series of TV shows about the work of the airport in general - one of the stories was from the catering department. They said that at altitude the sensitivity of taste buds is dulled, therefore, so that food does not seem bland, it is slightly oversalted. That's why tomato juice seems delicious. In addition, you are always thirsty during a flight because the air in the cabin is drier. And if you've flown long distances, you've probably felt thirsty all the time, and that's normal.
I love tomato juice since childhood. And sometimes I drink it in the air, because it is unsweetened and best quenches thirst. Even among passengers, tomato juice is the most divergent. But more often I drink water with lemon during the flight - this is more correct, it comes with experience. For example, coffee, on the contrary, removes water. If you fly somewhere to the east, somewhere far away, four hours there and back, you drink 1.5–2 liters during the entire flight.
Personally, my taste preferences do not change at altitude - apparently, I have been flying for too long, since 1997. On a flight, I myself usually eat very little, although our ration is quite large. I take some sweets for the child.
Sergey Belkov
chemical technologist, flavorist
In fact, there is no official data that people purposefully prefer tomato juice to other drinks on airplanes. There are certain airline statistics that do show that the proportion of tomato juice consumed in the air is slightly higher than its sales in stores on the ground. But I would approach this statistics with caution, since its simplest explanation may not lie at all in the peculiarities of changes in taste, but in the peculiarities of collecting statistics. It’s one thing for a buyer to choose a drink from 30 or even 100 types of juice in a store, and another thing to choose from three types of juice in the air (and you’re unlikely to see a hypermarket assortment on board). Probability theory clearly predicts that in conditions of limited choice on board, tomato juice will be chosen more often. Therefore, I would be skeptical about claims that people suddenly begin to prefer tomato juice precisely because they find themselves on a plane.
Another point that also needs to be taken into account is the price of the product. The cost of juice on board for the consumer is conditionally zero, he does not pay for it, and this zero means a lot. Exists great amount works on behavioral economics, showing that consumer behavior in conditions where a product is available for free is fundamentally different from its behavior in conditions of classical economic relations. In simple terms, the proverb “for free and sweet vinegar” is appropriate here.
And finally, a person’s perception of tastes is very sensitive to conditions, subjective and objective factors of the surrounding and internal world. Some people think that the whole point is that the air on the plane is drier and the body is trying to replenish minerals in this way - but for some reason the body does not do this mineral water, but juice, which contains fewer minerals. Another version is that the sensitivity of the receptors of different tastes depends on air pressure and to the taste of umami (and tomato juice, due to its fairly high content of glutamate, has exactly this taste), sensitivity is lost less than to sweets. This version, although not experimentally confirmed, is at least similar to the truth.
For adherents of the latter hypothesis, I have two news. The good news is that the perception of tastes on a plane does change. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be a matter of pressure. Most likely it's a noise issue. Obviously, noise, like any other environmental factor, should influence the perception of taste. But exactly how it influences was elegantly demonstrated in a series of experiments published in the journal Experimental Psychology last year. It turns out that in conditions of constant noise (namely, in such conditions a passenger finds himself while eating on an airplane), the perception of sweet taste is weakened, while the umami taste, on the contrary, is felt more vividly. In other words, if there is an effect of improving the taste of tomato juice on an airplane, then it is associated not with pressure or humidity, but with engine noise. Salty, sour and bitter tastes are not affected by this.
Sofia Zarubina
Junior Researcher, Faculty of Chemistry, Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosova, blog author @iknowchemistry
It is known that Lufthansa conducted a survey of passengers as part of a project to improve on-board catering. It turned out that a quarter of passengers choose tomato juice, of which only 25% noticed that the drink tastes better. Let's assume that in Airbus cabin A310-200 has a capacity of approximately 250 people, then only 15 people claim an improvement in the taste of tomato juice. The survey statistics are questionable, as only 6% of respondents give a positive answer. Moreover, the survey sample is unknown: gender, age, education, health and social status. At the same time, you need to understand that on airplanes they give packaged juices, which can have different tastes depending on the quality. I would like to point out that the airline’s publication does not contain links to real scientific research, which is not surprising, since the survey could have been commercial and had purposes unknown to us. Moreover, from the survey results it is impossible to connect the taste sensations of passengers with their individual preferences.
According to the same study, due to the reduced pressure on board an airplane, salt loses its taste by about 30%. Yes, it’s true that the pressure on board an airplane is somewhat lower than on the ground. The reason for this is aerodynamic expediency. Therefore, passengers often have blocked ears. The condition is also significantly affected by engine noise. The loss of taste can also be associated with the fact that drinks are served on board an airplane at a noticeable period of time after eating, which leads to a disruption in the water-salt balance and an increase in the feeling of hunger.
The passenger's pre-flight stress, which affects hormonal levels, can also play a significant role here. The body produces a special hormone, cortisol, followed by adrenaline. As a result, the passenger’s blood pressure increases, the pulse increases, saliva production decreases, and glycogen from the liver is broken down, releasing glucose into the blood. During times of stress, glucose gives energy and strength to overcome a difficult period.
At the same time, people react to stress differently: some lose their appetite, while others, on the contrary, want to eat it. Tomato juice is quite thick, and it can quickly dull the feeling of hunger.
Thus, individuals are influenced by different factors that can alter taste sensations. Thus, 6% of respondents could subjectively perceive changes in taste as an improvement in the taste of tomato juice. However, it is worth noting that such situations are interesting and require deeper scientific research.
ILLUSTRATION: Dasha Chertanova