Page 69 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste
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Noteworthy too is that the mouth and nose are ideally positioned in
the human body, in very close proximity to one another. An air passage
connects the scent perception zone in the nose to the oral cavity. Were it
not for that connection and that proximity, or if the scent receptors were
located in another part of the body, what would happen?
Any alteration to the current state of affairs would mean a major loss
of taste perception, because the mouth, nose and scent perceptors have
been created in exactly the right form and locations.
Indeed, it is revealed in the Qur’an that God creat-
ed human beings within a particular order:
O man! What has deluded you in respect of
your Noble Lord? He Who created you
and formed you and proportioned you
and assembled you in whatever way He
willed. (Surat al-Infitar: 6-8)
To summarize, the concept we define as
“flavor” is a combination of taste and smell.
Therefore, if we had no sense of smell, our
sense of taste would have little purpose. In
order to perceive flavors, we need the
scent receptors in the nose just as
much as taste preceptors on the
tongue.
The sense of smell plays a very
important role in taste.