On the sense of taste in two Malagasy primates (Microcebus murinus and Eulemur mongoz)

G. Hellekant (1) , Claude Marcel Hladik (2) , Vincent Dennys (2) , Bruno Simmen (2) , T. W. Roberts (2) , D. Glaser (2) , G. Dubois, (2) , D.E Walters (2)

1 Biomedical Research Centre network for Epidemiology and Public Health
2 EAE - Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie

In this study we present recordings from the chorda tympani proper (CT) nerve of two lemuriforme primates, the lesser mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) and the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz), to an array of taste stimuli which included the sweeteners acesulfame-K, alitame, aspaname, o-glucose, dulcin, monellin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDHC), saccharin, sodium superaspatame, stevioside, sucralose (TGS), sucrose, suosan, thaumatin and xylitol, as well as the non-sweet stinmli NaCI , citric acid, tannin and quinine hydrochloride. In M.murinus the effects of the taste modifiers gymnemic acid and miraculin on the CT response were recorded. Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) experiments in M. murinus and two-bottle preference (TBP) tests in E.mongoz were also conducted. We found that all of the above t.astants except thaurnatin elicited a CT response in both species. The CT A technique showed that M. mwinus generalized from sucrose to monellin but not to thaurnatin. The intake of aspartame, ranging in concentrat ion from 0.1 to 30 mM was measured in E.mongoz with TBP tests. At no concentration did we see a preference, but there was a significant rejection of 10 and 30 mM aspaname (?<0.025). Miraculin had no effects on the CT response to acids, and gymnemic acid did not selectively suppress the CT response to sucrose or that of any other sweeteners. The absence of ability to taste thaumatin in these species supports the dichotomy between catarrhine and non-catarrhine species. The difference in results with thaumatin and monellin indicate that their sweet moieties are not identical. It also points to a phylogenetic difference in taste within the prosin1ian group. Further, the results with aspartame indicate that the perception of sweetness from aspartame is limited to catarrhine species. Finally, neither miraculin nor gymnemic acid exhibit the sam, taste modifying effects in lemurifomes as they do in hominoidea. Thus the results with gymnemic acid and miraculin corroborate those obtained earlier in other prosimians.

Mots clés: perception of sugars

Domaines: Neurosciences; Alimentation et Nutrition

G. Hellekant, Claude Marcel Hladik, Vincent Dennys, Bruno Simmen, T. W. Roberts, et al.. On the sense of taste in two Malagasy primates (Microcebus murinus and Eulemur mongoz). Chemical Senses, 1993, 18, pp.307-320. ⟨hal-00552088⟩