The drool factor: Swetha Sivakumar on what makes food mouth-watering

Saliva plays a key role. Even though it’s 99% water, that final 1% defines how we taste, how we experience flavour, and what we can eat.

When a tragic heroine in a novel says the food “turned to ashes in her mouth”, I always wish I could tell her: “That’s the salivary glands. You have a problem with the salivary glands, dear.”

They are a highly underrated element in the eating experience, and because it is so rarely noticed, saliva is barely understood. It is 99% water, but the makeup of the rest makes all the difference. That 1% is a mix of proteins, mucus, and