The way food feels in your mouth could change how much you eat

From the crunch of fresh vegetables to the creaminess of dairy products, scientists explore how sensations in the mouth influence our relationship with food, raising new questions about appetite, eating habits, and nutritional health.

Want to read later? Download your clean, ad-free, print-friendly PDF copy by clicking here.

A recent review published in the journal npj Science of Food suggests that mouthfeel influences food preferences, dietary patterns, and eating behavior beyond brief sensory experiences.

Food texture can influence pleasantness, appetite, eating rate, and the quantity and type of foods consumed, with implications for satiety, metabolism, and overall health. The findings may be especially relevant for older adults and people with dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) or xerostomia (dry mouth), which can interfere with oral processing and adequate nutritional intake.

Food flavor combines smell, taste, and physical sensations in the mouth, shaping eating habits and cultural preferences. These perceptions arise from food components that produce aromas, tastes, and sensations such as texture or irritation.

Texture describes a food's physical structure and flow properties, while mouthfeel encompasses how it feels in the mouth, its temperature, and any tingling or irritation. Understanding these effects could help guide efforts to encourage healthier eating habits and improve nutritional outcomes.

The researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich and the TUM School of Life Sciences in Freising, Germany, explored the mechanisms underlying mouthfeel and their implications for nutritional quality and food product development.

The science behind taste and mouthfeel

Signals from nerve endings that detect contact, pressure, and chemical changes shape the sensation of food in the mouth. This helps explain why some people prefer crunchy or crisp foods to textures they find slimy, sticky, or tough. The perceived body of a drink or the creaminess of a dairy product helps shape judgments about its quality. Texture preferences may influence eating speed, food intake, and physiological responses.

Mouthfeel involves several sensory experiences, from touch, pressure, and temperature to responses such as heat, cooling, or tingling. Different receptors help detect these changes. Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels respond to several chemical and thermal stimuli, while proton-sensitive and mechanosensitive channels, including PIEZO, detect other signals.

Much of this information reaches the brain through trigeminal nerves, passing through the brainstem and thalamus before reaching the somatosensory cortex. Signals from this cortex then converge with taste and smell information in the anterior insula and frontal operculum, contributing to flavor perception.

The interaction between food and saliva is another part of this process. Catechins and other polyphenols found in tea, cocoa, and wine can bind to salivary proteins. This interaction can affect lubrication in the mouth and leave a dry or puckering sensation.

Fat also affects how food feels in the mouth. Free fatty acids can be detected through receptors such as cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) and G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120), but the importance of this pathway in fat perception remains debated. Separately, fat contributes to the smoothness, thickness, and creaminess of foods through its physical and lubricating properties.

Smell plays a role, too. Vanilla aroma, for instance, can make dairy products seem sweeter, thicker, and creamier. Visual cues and chewing sounds can also influence texture judgments, including perceived creaminess and crispness.

How mouthfeel influences eating behavior and satiety

An earlier model grouped mouthfeel into three broad experiences: coating sensations, dryness or tightness in the mouth, and flavor richness. The authors propose an illustrative classification with four overlapping categories: mechanical, structural, lubrication-related, and chemesthetic or thermal sensations.

Measuring mouthfeel requires complementary techniques. The researchers use texture profile analysis (TPA), rheometry, and tribometry to examine food consistency, flow, and lubrication. Consumer tests and sensory panels capture responses to different textures that physical measurements cannot fully represent.

Food consistency also affects the mechanics of eating. It can determine bite size, chewing time, and how quickly someone finishes a meal. Harder and thicker foods may prolong this process. Texture preferences can also influence food choices. For example, picky eaters who avoid minimally processed fruits and vegetables may turn to more energy-dense alternatives.

Greater reliance on energy-dense, easily consumed foods may increase energy intake, depending on their composition and how they are eaten. Hardness, elasticity, stickiness, chewiness, and creaminess are among the food properties linked to eating speed and fullness.

Eating speed matters, too. Some energy-dense, soft-textured foods can be consumed quickly, leaving less time for chewing and sensory exposure. People may feel less satisfied afterward, which may lead them to eat more. Whether faster consumption consistently contributes to long-term weight gain or metabolic changes remains uncertain.

Protein- and fiber-rich foods that require more chewing may take longer to eat, giving the body more time to register fullness. Satiation describes fullness during a meal, while satiety refers to reduced hunger afterward. Evidence that texture changes gastrointestinal hormone signaling remains inconsistent.

Food consistency can also shape expectations of how filling a meal will be, even before its nutritional content is considered. Thick, creamy products, for example, may create an expectation of greater fullness. Manufacturers can adjust these properties by changing emulsion droplet size, modifying emulsion structure, or adding thickening agents such as pectin, xanthan gum, and carrageenan. Another option is to incorporate air, which increases food volume without adding calories and may make portions more satisfying.

Conclusion

The authors conclude that food texture deserves greater attention when developing healthier products that support better nutrition while maintaining taste and consumer acceptance. Fermentation, blade tenderization, aeration, and plant-based ingredients offer different ways to modify texture while retaining sensory appeal. People with swallowing difficulties may need softer foods, but poorly designed texture changes can reduce enjoyment and nutrient intake.

Further studies could explore how food interacts with saliva and sensory receptors, and why people respond differently to particular textures. Artificial intelligence-assisted formulation and three-dimensional food printing could also open up new possibilities for producing foods with specific textures and nutritional profiles. These technologies require experimental validation, and their safety and suitability for different consumers must be assessed.

The authors also suggest considering food structure, particle size, and viscosity alongside nutrient content in dietary guidance and call for further research into long-term metabolic effects.

Source:

Journal reference:

• Benthin, J., Wiesenfarth, M., dos Santos Natividade, R. et al. (2026). Beyond smell and taste: the role of mouthfeel in flavour perception and its implications for health and food innovation. npj Sci Food, 10, 359. DOI: 10.1038/s41538-026-01232-5, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-026-01232-5