Premium
Taste difference thresholds for sucrose in two species of nonhuman primates
Author(s) -
Laska Matthias,
Scheuber HeinzPeter,
Sanchez Edith Carrera,
Rodriguez Luna Ernesto
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1999)48:2<153::aid-ajp6>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - taste , sucrose , biology , zoology , physiology , food science
The purpose of this study was to determine taste difference thresholds for sucrose in frugivorous spider monkeys and omnivorous baboons. Using a two‐bottle preference test of brief duration, we presented four Ateles geoffroyi and four Papio hamdryas anubis with six different reference concentrations (RCs) of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mM sucrose and tested their ability to discriminate these from lower concentrations of this carbohydrate. The just noticeable differences (JNDs), expressed as Weber ratios (Δ/I), were found to range from 0.075–0.25 in the spider monkeys, with a tendency for lower values with higher Rcs. In contrast, the baboons showed the reverse trend, with the lowest Weber ratio of 0.10 at the two lowest Rcs and higher values of up to 0.25 with the highest RC tested. Thus, the JNDs were found to be generally similar in both species and at least as low as in humans. The results support the assumption that both spider monkeys and baboons may use sweetness as a criterion for food selection. The different patterns of differential sensitivity for sucrose across the range of concentrations tested suggest a correlation between the ability to discriminate between different concentrations of sucrose and the dietary habits of the two species. Am. J. Primatol. 48:153–160, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.