Lloyd 1 Introduction/Background:
The topic of taste is one of much importance. Taste allows us to enjoy the many flavors
of foods, as well as alert our bodies of danger. Taste buds can be sensitive to the differences of
bitter, sweet, salty and sour; helping to distinguish between the flavors of ripe and sometimes
spoiled foods. The taste of a substance and the flavor of a substance however; are different
things.
Taste, refers to the five sensitivities, sweet, sour, salty, bitter and the newest to western
culture, umami, which is the taste of the amino acid glutamate (present in MSG). Flavor is
considered a hedonic sense, combining the five sensitivities with smell, texture, and expectation.
For example, food does not seem as appealing or enjoyable when you have a cold, the smell of
that food is perceived differently ; which affects the flavor of that food for our taste receptors;
but not the taste directly.
The tongue which is vital for chewing and swallowing food is covered with pink like tissue
called mucosa. As illustrated above, the mucosa is covered by papillae giving the tongue its
rough appearance; those are not the taste buds. The taste buds cover the surfaces of the papillae;
the buds are collections of nerve cells that connect to receptors in the brain, processing taste.
Lloyd 2 The tongue is held in the mouth by tough tissue and mucosa. The tether-like tissue holding the
front of our tongue from unnecessary motion is called the frenum. The back of our tongue is held
in place by the hyoid bone.
Varieties of tasters are existent, supertasters to non-tasters; knowing where you fall
between the two is an important piece of information to know. If you are a supertaster, you are
very sensitive to the different tastes on your palate, these people are usually picky eaters, and
usually thinner because they avoid sugars, salts and fats. Supertasters have lower levels of
obesity and cardiovascular disease, however there can be a downside to being one; many
supertasters will avoid green vegetables because of the bitter taste many provide, leaving a
supertaster low on important nutrients. A non-taster however, has a harder time picking up
milder tastes, will tend to eat more spicy foods, sweets and fats, and is not only more prone to it.
A non-taster will allow their selves to eat larger portions of a certain food because of the lack of
sensation they get from smaller amounts, leaving a non-taster with a higher likelihood of
cardiovascular disease and obesity.
The objective of the anatomy of taste lab is to bring awareness to the subjects where we
lie between a super taster and non-taster to adjust our eating habits if we are more on one end of
that spectrum. Supertasters need to take supplements to get certain nutrients they are lacking
from avoiding vegetables; and non-tasters need to adjust their portion amounts and allowance of
sweets and fats.
Lloyd 3 Procedure
Exercise One:
To complete exercise one, a taste paper of each color was needed; white (control), blue
(Phenylthiocarbamide), yellow (Thiourea), pink (sodium benzoate). One taste paper at a time,
place onto the center of the tongue. Wait a few minutes between tasting each paper, and rinse
mouth with water before placing the next taste paper onto tongue.
Exercise Two:
Using a Q-tip, apply blue food coloring onto the tip or your tongue. Place a hole
reinforcement ring onto the tongue in the same area colored by the blue food coloring. Count the
taste buds within the reinforcement ring, use a mirror and magnifying glass if necessary.
Exercise Three:
Label with a marker three cups for each taste; labeling “A”, “B”, “C”, three sweet, three
salty, three sour, three bitter, totaling twelve cups. Obtain two larger cups, one for spitting into,
and the other containing water to rinse with. The instructor and classmates will fill the cups with
each sample solution. One at a time, taste each group, labeling which letter is strongest, and
which is milder. Rinse between samples, and record results.
Results
Exercise one, indicated that I am an ordinary taster. The white paper, being the control
had no taste to my taste buds. The blue paper, phenylthiocarbamide, was slightly bitter to my
taste. The yellow taste paper, thiourea, in my opinion was bitter. Sodium benzoate on the pink
paper had a sour taste to it. Exercise two, classified myself as a non-taster, only locating ten
papillae in the area separated by the reinforcement ring. Exercise three, I was accurate with the
Lloyd 4 class on all of the solutions with an exception of the sour solution, I marked “C” as the most
sour, and “B” as the least sour, the instructor revealed that solution “B” and “C” were identical.
Discussion
From the three tests that were performed, the results all concur with each other that I am
an average taster, however I distinguished the tastes better than a non-taster. Non-tasters do not
generally have a preference in foods; they are not as sensitive to milder tastes. Obesity and
cardiovascular disease is more prevalent on this side of the spectrum because non-tasters
consume larger portions to get the sensation of that food, and do not avoid the fatty or sweet
tasting foods. A supertaster usually is a picky eater, will avoiding sweet foods such as cakes,
salty & fatty foods, vegetables due to the bitter taste many produce. Supertasters generally are
thinner because of their evasion from fatty foods, but are not usually the healthiest due to lack of
nutrients since they do not consume a lot of greens.
My results classified me as a non-taster; sweeter, saltier, bitterer foods are present in my
diet. Personally my food intake needs to be monitored for over salting foods, or over eating on
sweets because it takes more for my mouth to have the sensation of the full taste. Even though
being a non-taster has myself more inclined for sweets, my overall health is very good. I am at
my healthy weight, when observing my diet analysis I see that fruits and vegetables are a part of
my everyday diet, which shows that just because someone is a non-taster, does not mean they
will be obese. I do not necessarily see my dislikes and likes changed by being a non-taster; I do
eat from every food group, spinach being my favorite food. In the colored area I displayed ten
papillae, so I know that I am a non-taster.
Taste sensitivity does affect body weight and risk for disease. When someone is not
sensitive to sweets, fats, and salts, they will consume more of that food category, leaving ability
Lloyd 5 to gain weight and possibly develop higher risks of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
Supertasters however, are less inclined to eat sweets and fats, leaving this co-culture thinner
overall. Supertasters lack a lot of nutrients usually because they also avoid the bitter tastes of
vegetables.
Conclusion
During the anatomy of taste lab, I discovered a lot about my tasting ability and how taste
can affect one’s diet. Supertasters, I learned are more inclined to avoid sweets and the bitterness
of vegetables; learning that if one is a supertaster they may consider taking supplements to intake
the nutrients they are lacking from avoiding vegetables. I found it interesting that the majority of
the population is classified as non-tasters. This lab is very beneficial for people going into
nutrition, when dietitians are creating diet plans for people they need to take this into account for
people’s preferences and may need to advise a supplement of sort if the person is sensitive to
tastes. I would recommend that the scores of a taster and a non-taster are not revealed until after
the experimenting is finished, because I feel there could be some changing of numbers from
people who desire to be a supertaster. Overall, the lab was a positive experience and was very
informative about our tendencies for taste.
Lloyd 6 Work Cited
Andrea Gorman, P. (2012). Principles of human nutrition lab manual (4th Ed.). Phoenix, AZ:
premium source publishing.
Gritzmann, Norbert (2002) Sonography of soft tissue masses of the neck. Journal of Clinical
Ultrasound 30(6)
Patricia DeVilliers, Rajesh Gutta, Victor F. Szymela. (2008) Cystinosis, Fanconi syndrome, and
odontogenic cysts. Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and
Endodontology 106:6, 866-871