Human saliva and taste responses to acids varying in anions, titratable acidity, and pH

Twenty subjects recorded perceived sourness of solutions of citric + fumaric and of citric + tartaric acids, at pH 3.5 and titratable acidity (TiA) of 4.0 g/l on a moving chart, while parotid saliva flow was recorded via a sialometer . Sourness intensity and flow were greater when citric was the minor acid than when it was dominant. Subjects varied widely in calculated volume of saliva reservoir, but not flow rate (time to 2/3 reservoir vol.). In tartaric-fumaric acid mixtures varying in pH (3.0-3.75) at a constant TiA of 4.0 g/l, and varying in TiA (3.7-4.6 g/l) at a constant pH of 3.5, sourness intensity and parotid flow increased with acidity and decreased with pH. However, eight subjects with a high flow (HF = 1.2 +/- 0.28 g/2 min) and nine subjects with a low flow (LF = 0.43 +/- 0.11 g/2 min) differed widely: (a) In response to variation in stimulus pH and TiA, HF demonstrated marked alteration in flow, but little change in sourness ; LF responded at a lower absolute level, but showed marked changes in sourness and little change in flow; (b) Salivary pH was higher and Na+ was three times greater for the HF than for the LF subjects; and (c) Salivary Ca++ showed a direct relationship with flow and pH among the HF, but an inverse relationship for the LF subjects.