Influence of experience on response to bitter taste

Sucrose octaacetate, which tastes bitter to humans, can reduce the energy intake of rats when added to their diet. The reduction in energy intake is transient, lasting no more than 5 weeks. Rats that no longer reduce intake in response to sucrose octaacetate still avoid food containing it in choice tests, although to a lesser degree than rats having no previous experience with sucrose octaacetate. The ability of sucrose octaacetate to reduce preference without reducing long-term intake accounts for the previous finding that a wet diet containing sucrose octaacetate can stimulate hyperphagia yet be less preferred than the control diet. Sucrose octaacetate was more effective in reducing intake of a wet than of a dry diet. This last observation indicates that adding water to a food makes it easier for an animal to taste its food.