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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Taste Exam: A Brief and Validated Test

Taste Exam: A Brief and Validated Test

Published on: August 17, 2018

A test for measuring gustatory function.

Gregory Smutzer¹, Si Lam, Lloyd Hastings

¹Laboratory of Gustatory Psychophysics, Biology Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA. smutzerg@temple.edu

The Laryngoscope

|June 6, 2008

Summary

Edible taste strips offer a highly sensitive method for measuring human gustatory function. These novel strips can detect taste recognition thresholds more effectively than traditional aqueous tests.

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Area of Science:

Sensory science
Food science
Human physiology

Background:

Assessing human gustatory function is crucial for understanding taste perception.
Traditional methods for measuring taste thresholds can be cumbersome and less sensitive.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the utility of edible taste strips for measuring human gustatory function.
To compare the sensitivity of taste strips with conventional aqueous taste tests.

Main Methods:

Edible taste strips were fabricated from pullulan-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose.
The physical properties and tastant incorporation uniformity of the strips were analyzed.
Human sweet taste recognition thresholds were determined using taste strips and compared to aqueous tests.

Main Results:

The edible taste strips were clear, thin, and had no background taste.
Strips could uniformly incorporate up to 5% tastant.
Taste recognition thresholds for sweet taste were significantly lower (over one order of magnitude) using taste strips compared to aqueous tests.

Conclusions:

Edible taste strips represent a highly sensitive tool for human taste recognition threshold assessment.
This method offers a new, versatile approach for taste stimulus presentation in various settings.
Potential applications include laboratory, clinical, and remote taste function evaluations.