Measuring oral fatty acid thresholds, fat perception, fatty food liking, and papillae density in humans

Oral chemoreception of fatty acids and the association with diet and fatty food preferences may enable the identification of mechanisms involved with the development of obesity and why dietary changes may be difficult for many individuals

Taste changes and saliva composition in chronic kidney disease

Objective: To determine whether there is an association between changes in salivary composition and altered taste perception in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Design: Cross-section observational study. Setting: Tertiary hospital renal outpatient clinic. Subjects: Thirty CKD patients (24 males, six females, age 69.7 ± 14.2 years), with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <25 mL/ min and five controls, (one male, four females, age 44.6 ± 10.3 years) with GFR>80 mL/min. Intervention: Participants performed a taste identification task to assess perception of the five primary tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. Perceived intensity was rated on a 100 mm visual analogue scale to determine sensitivity, and liking was rated using a nine-point hedonic scale. A saliva sample was collected to determine biochemical composition. Main outcome measure: Recognition, perceived intensity and liking of the five primary tastes. Results: It was observed that CKD patients have increased salivary bicarbonate, potassium and urea concentrations (p<0.05) and a poorer ability to perceive sour, umami and bitter tastes (p<0.05) when compared to controls. Bicarbonate concentration in saliva was inversely related to both liking and intensity of umami taste and to the intensity of sour taste (p<0.05), whilst salivary urea was linked to the perceived intensity of bitter taste (p<0.05)