Relationship between taste thresholds and hunger under debate

Patrick Pasquet (1) , Marie-Odile Monneuse (1) , Bruno Simmen (1) , André Marez (1) , Claude Marcel Hladik (1)

1 EAE - Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie

We determined taste recognition thresholds for six compounds (sucrose, fructose, sodium chloride, quinine sulphate, PROP, and liquorice) in fasting students and, in the same subjects, after a meal. The testing procedure was the staircase-method in blind conditions. Although possible variation of taste sensitivity could be linked to internal state (i.e. hormonal status), our results did not show any significant variation of the taste recognition thresholds according to hunger or satiety. Our Bayesian analysis did not corroborate the hypothesis of increased sensitivity to nutrition-related tastants in the fasting state that was recently supported by published data obtained with the two-alternative forced-choice method.

Domaines: Anthropologie biologique; Alimentation et Nutrition; Psychologie

Patrick Pasquet, Marie-Odile Monneuse, Bruno Simmen, André Marez, Claude Marcel Hladik. Relationship between taste thresholds and hunger under debate. Appetite, 2006, 46, pp.63-66. ⟨hal-00586922⟩