Re: How are smell and taste related and which one overcomes the other?

Kirsten:

     Taste and smell are very inter-related in the human as it is in 
animals.  Generally, animals like dogs and cats, have a far superior sense 
of smell than we do.  However, as humans, we can detect a certain substance 
in the air that are available in very small quantities, some as low as 1 
in 25,000,000,000 mg per milliliter of air.  We can "smell" these but if we 
open our mouth, we are unable to "taste" them.  So in answer to your 
question, I would say that our sense of smell is much keener than our sense 
of taste.  Also, if our sense of smell was altered, decreased, or 
non-existent as it is in some situations, it greatly affects our taste.  
For example, when we have a bad cold, we might complain that we cannot 
taste our food.  Well, in reality our taste functions are working fine, it 
is our sense of smell that has been decreased due to the cold.  So, 
in essence, we cannot taste our food until we can smell it.  Remember, a 
given amount of a substance will stimulate our olfactory (smell) system 
thousands of times more strongly than the same amount stimulating our 
gustatory (taste) system.
     I hope this helps, and good luck with your project!

K. McWilliams