• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.534-541
• /
• 2012

This study examined salty taste acuity and salty taste preference and sodium intake in relation to zinc nutritional status in 2 rural populations in Korea. And we also examined the main food contributors of their sodium intakes. We enrolled 218 adults (66 men and 152 women) from the Kangneung and Samcheok regions in Korea's Kangwon province in our study conducted from December 2011 to February 2012. Participants from each region were divided into 3 groups based on their serum zinc level (T1: lowest, T2: intermediate, T3: highest). We compared the salty taste acuity and preference, Na index (Dish Frequency Questionnaire for estimation of habitual sodium intake), blood pressure, and intakes of nutrients including sodium by 3 groups of serum zinc level. The results were as follows: a higher serum zinc level indicated a lower sodium intake and Na index (P<0.05). The salty taste acuity was considerably higher for participants from the Kangneung region than those from the Samcheok region (P<0.05). And the serum zinc level was significantly higher in participants from the Kangneung region than those from the Samcheok region (P<0.05). We further divided the participants into 2 groups: those who consumed more zinc than the recommended intake (RI) and the others. We compared salty taste acuity and salty taste preference in the 2 groups. The salty taste threshold and palatable salty taste concentrations were lower for the group with a zinc intake above RI than for the group with zinc intake below the RI. However, the difference was not significant. This study confirms that taste function differs depending on zinc nutritional status. In future, it is required to a large-scale, long-term, prospective study on the correlation between zinc intake, serum zinc levels, and taste perception function and blood pressure.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.132-140
• /
• 2010

High sodium intake is one of the risk factors for the development of hypertension. According to 2007 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, sodium intake of Korean was three times higher than adequate intake (1.5 g/day) recommended by Korean Dietary Reference Intakes. High sodium intake is related to high threshold and preference of salty taste. And zinc status is known to affect taste acuity. The hypothesis of this study is that zinc status is associated with salty taste acuity, preference, sodium intake and blood pressure. The subjects included in this study were 50 men and 41 women aged 20-29 y who did not smoke and not take supplements or medications regularly. Dietary intake data for 3 days were collected by 24-h recall for 1 day and dietary record for 2-days. Salty taste acuity and preference were determined by sensory test. Fasting serum concentration of zinc, height, weight, body composition and blood pressure data were collected. Salt taste preference in high zinc intake group ($\geq$ estimated average requirement, EAR; men-8.1 mg/day, women-7 mg/day) was higher than that in low zinc intake group (< EAR). Salty taste preference was inversely correlated with serum zinc concentration in people with low concentration of serum zinc (${\leqq}\;81\;{\mu}g/dL$)(r = -0.3520, p < 0.05). Diastolic blood pressure was higher in high sodium intake group than in low sodium intake group (p < 0.05), positively correlated with salty taste preference (r = 0.3866, p < 0.05) in subjects with daily zinc intake below the EAR. We conclude that low zinc status may be related to high salty taste preference and high blood pressure in Korean young adults.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.484-492
• /
• 2000

In an attempt to figure out the relationship between zinc status and taste acuity of old and young women, dietary zinc intake, urinary zinc excretion, and taste acuity were determined for 118 women. Zinc intake was measured by 2-day food records and food frequency method. Urinary zinc excretion was measured from urine samples collected for twenty four hours. Body fat, lean body mass (LBM), and total body water were measured by bio-impedence. Average dietary zinc intake by food record was 4.15$\pm$1.33mg (=35% if Korean RDA) for the old women and 5.41$\pm$2.76mg (=25% of RDA) for young women. When zinc intake was measured by a frequency method, the average intakes of the old and young women were 3.5$\pm$1.7mg 4.5$\pm$1.9mg, respectively. It appears that dietary zinc intake of young women was significantly higher than that of the old women. Average urinary zinc excretion of the subjects was 0.27$\pm$0.16mg in the elderly and 0.24$\pm$0.13mg in young women, which indicated a marginal zinc status. However, zinc status was not significantly different between old and young women. Correlation analysis indicated that zinc intake and urinary zinc excretion were positively related to BMI and LBM in young women. The old women (m=49) showed significantly higher taste detection thresholds than young subjects (n=47) for both sweet and salty tastes. Recognition thresholds for sodium chloride and sucrose were not significantly different between old and young women. The lower the taste thresholds for salty taste, the higher the average dietary zinc intake. However, taste perception concentration was not related to the urinary zinc excretion level.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.107-113
• /
• 2006

Sensory factors are important determinants of appetite and food choices but little is known about factors affecting taste acuity and preference of Koreans. Any factors causing deficits in sweet taste perception may lead to over consumption of simple sugar, which is related to several chronic diseases. This study was conducted to determine factors affecting sweet taste sensitivity and preference. Subjects were 30 government employees who were serving as school dietitians or in the area of public health while they were studying in the program for the qualification to become nutrition teachers. Sweet taste threshold and the optimally-preferred sweetness of omija jelly were determined by a sensory evaluation and general characteristics, health-related lifestyles, dietary habits and food preferences were determined using a self-administered questionnaire. For the subjects of this study, detection threshold concentration of sucrose solution was $0.184{\pm}0.06%$ and optimally-preferred sucrose concentration of omija jelly was $13.88{\pm}2.28%$ and there was no significant correlation between the sweet taste sensitivity and preference. Subjects who had higher(${\ge}4$ out of 10) physical or psychological stress and who had late getting-up time (after 7am) tended to have lower sweet taste threshold (higher sensitivity) than their counterpart. The sweet taste preference determined by optimally-preferred sucrose concentration of omija jelly tended to be lower in the subjects who eat slowly. Those who answered in the questionnaire to prefer sweet foods did have significantly higher optimally-preferred sucrose concentration of omija jelly. Further research is required to determine whether decreased sensitivity and increased preference for sweetness can increase the actual intake of simple sugar. (J Community Nutrition 8(2): 107 -113, 2006)

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.223-232
• /
• 2013

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of salt (NaCl) recognition threshold and pleasant salt concentrations of Korean rural elderly subjects on preference of salty food as well as food group consumption patterns. The subjects were 213 elderly people (male 71 and female 142) over 65 and under 90 yr of age from Sunchang area. The higher values were found with male subjects in the areas of basic taste recognition threshold and pleasant concentration level of salt. The taste sensitivity scores of male subjects did not decrease with the increasing age, but female subjects exhibited a significant decrease with the age. The major determinant factor of salt preference of the elderly subjects in this study appeared to be personal pleasant concentration of salt rather than salt recognition threshold level and this trend was more evident in males than in females. The subject group of lower salt pleasant concentration i.e. consuming less salt showed the higher number of fruit and fruit juice intakes per week, and higher MNA (define this) scores were implying that they display more desirable nutritional status. Therefore, nutritional education focused on not only a variety of food consumption but also lowering pleasant salt concentration levels is advised to improve the quality of nutrition in the elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 1987

It was the purpose of this study to determine if the changes in the sense of taste occur with the periods of the menstrual cycle in 14 women aged 20 to 22 years. Results showed that the perceived intensity responses to different suprathreshold salt concentrations and the ad libitum salting level in soybean sprout soup did not differ significantly according to the different periods of the menstrual cycle. But women in the three or five days period previous to menstruation were sensi\ulcornertive at the lower salt concentration of 0.25%, but, on the contrary, were insensitive at the higher concentration of 1.25%, with increasing ad libitum salt preference in soybean sprout soup. Also, they were more or less high in the intensity slopes of perceived saltiness on the linear regression. The data suggests that a physiological mechanism for increasing salt intake may develop during the three or five days right before menstruation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.124-131
• /
• 2011

Because excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may reduce the quality of nutritional intake, this study examined the consumption patterns of commercial beverages, lifestyle, dietary habits, and perception of sweet taste. Participants were 407 male university students in Kyeooggido, Korea, and information was collected by self-administered questionnaire. Among them, 58 nonsmokers volunteered to participate in the taste test. Participants were divided into three groups according to the frequency of commercial beverage consumptions: 120 rare (< 1 serving/week), 227 moderate (1-3 servings/week) and 133 frequent (> 3 servings/week) consumption groups. More subjects from the rare consumption group chose water, tea, and soy milk, and more from the frequent consumption group chose carbonated soft drinks and coffee (P=0.031) as their favorite drinks. Frequent consumption group consumed fruit juice, coffee, and sports and carbonated soft drinks significantly more often (P=0.002, P=0.000, P=0.000, respectively), but not milk and tea. Frequent consumption group consumed beverages casually without a specific occasion (P=0.000) than rare consumption group. Frequent drinking of commercial beverages was associated with frequent snacking (P=0.002), meal skipping (P=0.006), eating out (P=0.003), eating delivered foods (P=0.000), processed foods (P=0.001), and sweets (P=0.002), and drinking alcoholic beverages (P=0.029). Frequent consumption group tended to have a higher threshold of sweet taste without reaching statistical significance. The results provide information for developing strategies for evidence-based nutrition education program focusing on reducing consumption of unnecessary sugar-sweetened commercial beverages.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.295-303
• /
• 2008

The lingual branch of the trigeminal nerve transmitts general sensation from anterior two thirds of the tongue, also bearing within sheath fibers of chordal tympani branch of the facial nerve. Chorda tympani nerve carries special taste sensations from the anterior two thirds of the tongue and sub-serves the existing trigeminal pathway. Chorda tympani nerve and the lingual nerve innervate to fungiform papilla and distribution of fungiform papilla on tongue dorsum is variable according to anatomical location. The purpose of this report is to assess that the relationship of the number of fungiform papilla and the ability of two-point discrimination of tongu dorsum. Twenty-six healthy students(male:female=13:13) whose mean age was $30{\pm}3$ participated in our study. Two-point discrimination thresholds were measured to evaluate the spatial acuity of touch sensation. The measurement was carried out at the tip and posterolateral region of dorsal tongue. After two-point discrimination test, we took the pictures of their dorsal tongue dyed with methylene blue with digital camera. There were no significant differences between the number of fungiform papilla and the two-point discrimination threshold. But, we found that there were the intraregional and intersubject variations of spatial acuity of the tongue. During the test on the posterolateral region of the dorsal tongue, students appealed the difficulty of discrimination of one point and two point.