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Can humans smell tastants?

Shuo Mu1, Markus Stieger1, Sanne Boesveldt1

  • 1Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Chemical Senses
|January 4, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Humans can identify basic tastant solutions using smell via orthonasal and retronasal olfaction. Volatile compounds in tastant solutions, not solvents, aid this olfactory discrimination, impacting taste perception studies.

Keywords:
ITEX-GC-MSfatty acidodorolfactory discriminationtastant

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Area of Science:

  • Sensory science
  • Chemosensation research

Background:

  • Olfaction's role in taste perception is understudied, particularly in humans.
  • Limited research exists on distinguishing basic tastants via orthonasal and retronasal olfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate human perception of basic tastant solutions using orthonasal and retronasal olfaction.
  • To identify volatile odor compounds (VOCs) responsible for olfactory discrimination of tastants.

Main Methods:

  • Triangle discrimination tests assessed if participants could distinguish tastant solutions from blanks.
  • Analysis of volatile compounds in the headspace of tastant and blank solutions was performed.
  • Tested 5 basic tastants (sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, MSG, quinine) and 2 fatty acids (oleic, linoleic).

Main Results:

  • Participants successfully distinguished all tastant solutions from blanks via orthonasal olfaction.
  • Retronasal olfaction allowed discrimination of sucrose, NaCl, oleic, and linoleic acid solutions.
  • Specific VOCs (e.g., ethyl dichloroacetate, acetone, fat oxidation compounds) were identified in tastant solutions but not blanks.

Conclusions:

  • Prototypical tastant solutions are discriminable from solvents through orthonasal olfaction.
  • Differences in volatile headspace composition contribute to olfactory discrimination of tastants.
  • Findings have implications for methodologies in gustatory perception research.