London, Dec 10 (IANS): Ever wondered why you can't simply resist that mouth-watering chicken or delicious chocolate cake made by your mother?

According to researchers, food that is perceived to have been "made with love" tastes more delicious.

The emotional perception of taste can be enhanced or diminished by the amount of time, love and care that goes into meals, which ultimately can increase people's enjoyment of food, a Britain-based food psychologist, Christy Fergusson, was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.

"We set out to prove that food made with love tastes better and demonstrates how the power of intention impacts people's perception of food enjoyment," Fergusson said.

The findings revealed that 58 per cent of people enjoy food more when it has been prepared with a certain level of time and love, said research led by Birds Eye -- frozen food firm in Britain.

For the study, the team fed two groups of people with an identical Christmas dinner.

The first group ate their meal in a festively decorated room after being told the food had been lovingly prepared by a team of chefs using family-favourite recipes.

In contrast, the second group ate in conditions where little effort was made to make the participants feel welcome and the room was sparingly decorated.

The results showed that the first group believed their meal tasted better.