Background and Objectives: Taste perception plays a key role in consumer acceptance and food choice, which
has an important impact on human health. Our aim was to examine the relationship between recognition thresholds for five basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami) in Chinese and Indians in relation to their dietary
intake. Methods and Study Design: This cross-sectional study included 114 subjects (60 Chinese, 54 Indians).
Taste thresholds were determined using a forced choice method and dietary intakes were assessed using an estimated three-day food diary. Results: Indians had significantly higher recognition thresholds for sweet, salty, sour,
umami and bitter tastes compared to Chinese (all p0.047). Overall energy intake was not significantly different
between the Chinese and Indians. Correlations between taste and diet between the Chinese and Indians were not
significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Future work is needed to further understand how differences in taste perception
may influence dietary intakes between ethnic groups.
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Funding Info:
This study was supported by the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS).
Description:
The full paper is available for free download at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29737817/