Why is mint the default “fresh” flavor?
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Mint is the default “fresh” flavor because it is a refreshing flavor that is not too strong.
Similar to how spicy things taste hot, mint tastes cool in a way that’s detected by a mechanism other than taste buds.
Probably because mint has menthol which tricks your tongue that you’re eating something cold. More specifically, it binds to the TRPM8 receptor on your tongue, which the receptor is responsible of sensing coldness. People tend to feel more fresh when we are at cooler places and eating cooler foods compared to when we’re at hot places and eating hot food (because we sweat I think).
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“Fresh” is all a marketing gimmick. Research has established that menthol is cold spicy and capsaicin is hot spicy. This next part gets technical… if you mix them together you get neutral spicy.
Like others mention, it tricks your tongue into thinking it’s cold because of magic and chemistry. Besides a nearly undetectable bitterness, there is absolutely no flavor in menthol. That means it leaves no lingering flavor, and has no flavor that can “not mix” with other flavors. Therefore it’s a perfect candidate for a universal “fresh” flavor. On top of all that, the stuff is dirt cheap — which is probably the most important requirement!
Mint has been used by various peoples in the Mediterranean area since at least 300 BCE. Different varieties of the mint plant are found in Europe, Asia, North America, and even in Australia.
Ancient peoples used mint both to flavor food but also to help cover up bad breath. People would even rub it against there gums and teeth to try to get rid of bad tastes and smells.
That’s why it’s so common in things like candy, medications, and toothpaste today because it has been commonly used for thousands of years.
It isn’t. Fresh is cultural and depends where you are. There is the menthol piece others mention which is why mint gum spread globally as a sense of fresh but other fresh factors are often scents, e.g. Citrus or Pine, in the US/UK citrus is the predominant fresh scent in cleaning in Sandiwegian countries it is Pine. In many parts of the world fresh clothing smells of flowers, which depend on your country.
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