Measuring oral fat sensitivity

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that humans can taste fatty acids and that considerable variation in fatty acid sensitivity exists. However, there is no commonly accepted test method for measuring fatty acid sensitivity. Currently used methods are too complex and time consuming. The aim of this study was to propose and test a new method for measuring oral fat sensitivity that could be used in association studies. To mimic a natural food matrix, salad dressings with varying concentrations of canola oil (from 2.5% to 35.0%) were used as stimuli. An ascending forced choice triangle procedure was applied. All testing was performed under red light and with the participants wearing nose clips. The test was terminated after three correct responses in a row. Testing was repeated for each subject for three consecutive days. The usefulness of this method in association studies was tested in a pilot study. Since preparing the testing solutions and overall testing procedure for each participant takes no more than 40 minutes, the method would seem to be useful in studies with numerous subjects. Repeated testing did not improve performance. Our fatty acids sensitivity detection method discriminates between hyposensitive and hypersensitive individuals in a time‐effective manner, though repeated testing is suggested to avoid random errors in assignment.Support or Funding InformationThis study was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2014/15/B/NZ9/02134).