Observations and results
Did plugging your nose make it difficult to distinguish a jelly bean's flavor? Could you and your partner recognize a flavor just by sniffing the crushed candies?

When you cannot smell the jelly bean you are eating, you can only taste the candy's sweetness—and that's not enough information to tell which flavor you are chewing. This demonstrates how much we rely on our sense of smell when we "taste" food—much of the experience comes from scents rather than taste itself. This is also why everything tastes bland when you have a cold: Your stuffy nose keeps you from enjoying the full olfactory experience. In addition to scent and taste, other factors including a food's temperature and texture affect how you experience and interpret each bite.

More to Explore
How does the way food looks or its smell influence taste? from Scientific American
Taste and Smell from Newton's Apple
Does our sense of smell and sight affect how food tastes? from Science Fair Projects
The Nose Knows from Neuroscience for Kids
Your Nose from KidsHealth

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