Association of tastes with the colors and foods

Abstract

The relationships among the six basic tastes and the colors and foods they are associated with were examined, involving 121 female university students. Colors were classified based on their hue, brightness, and saturation levels. The colors the most frequently associated with each taste were as follows. Sweetness is associated with high-brightness RED and RED PURPLE, saltiness with high-brightness BLUE and WHITE (neutral color), sourness with high-brightness and -saturation YELLOW, bitterness with low-brightness GREEN and YELLOW GREEN, savoriness with mid-brightness ORANGE and YELLOW, and pungency with high-saturation RED. The foods the most frequently associated with sweetness and sourness, for example, were peaches/strawberries and lemons, respectively, revealing an association between the colors and foods with tastes. The possibility of changes in dietary patterns influencing the relationship between tastes and colors was also suggested.