Evaluation of the ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ properties of umami compound in rats

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Food reward is neurologically and psychologically divided into at least two properties; 'liking' and 'wanting'. Although umami taste enhances food palatability, the liking and wanting properties of umami taste, and the underlying neural mechanisms for these properties are not clear. Here, we compared sucrose (0, 10, 30, 120 and 480 mM) and monosodium l-glutamate (MSG; 0, 10, 30, 60 and 120 mM) solutions using a taste reactivity test to evaluate liking, and fixed/progressive-ratio operant licking tasks to evaluate wanting. To determine the underlying neural mechanisms, we also conducted systemic blockade of opioid receptors in both tests. In the taste reactivity test, the hedonic reactions to 30, 60 and 120 mM MSG were greater than those to water (0mM) but lower than those to 480 mM sucrose. In the operant task, the intake, number of licks, and breakpoint to MSG reached peaks at around 60mM but they were lower than those to 30-480 mM sucrose. The systemic naloxone treatment decreased the hedonic responses to MSG and sucrose, and reduced the incentive salience of MSG but not sucrose. These findings indicate that the hedonic response and incentive salience of MSG is lower than those of sucrose when compared at the maximum response and that the incentive salience of MSG is lower than sucrose even where the hedonic response is similar. The present study also suggest that the hedonic response and incentive salience of umami compound is modulated by brain opioid signaling.