A cross-cultural study of taste discrimination with Australians and Japanese

As pan of a larger cross-cultural study of the chemoreceptive abilities and preferences of Australiansand Japanese, this study investigated the differential taste sensitivity of subjects from both cultures. Theresults indicate that there are no significant differences between the abilities of subjects from the two culturesto discriminate small increments (just noticeable differences) in the intensities of the four common tastants-sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid and caffeine. Furthermore, the Weber ratios found with each tastantwere within the range of those reported in the literature. These findings represent further evidence for theview that differences in responses of subjects from different cultures to chemosensory stimuli are restrictedto preference behaviour arising from experience rather than from genetically-based influences. IntroductionAnecdotal information from food companies and travellers suggest that the Japaneseconsumer may be more sensitive to subtle variations in flavour and other attributesof foods than their Western counterparts. It is conceivable, therefore, that communitieswhich have had a stable culture for several thousands of years, such as that found inJapan, may have developed chemosensory abilities and preferences attuned to the dietprovided by their geographic circumstance and culture.From the relatively few cross-cultural studies that have compared Asian and Westernchemosensory responses, no differences in taste thresholds have been found betweensubjects from the US and Japan for sucrose, sodium chloride, monosodium glutamate(MSG) and inosine monophosphate (IMP) (Yamaguchi et al., 1988), between subjectsfrom Nigeria, Korea and the US for sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid and caffeine(Druz and Baldwin, 1982), or between the ratings of aroma intensity and firmness oforange flavoured pectin gels by Japanese and subjects from nine Western nations(Lundgren et al., 1986). However, there appear to be very few comparative studiesinvolving Asian and Western subjects other than those measuring detection/recognitionthresholds. For example, there is only one reported study of the ability of Asian andWestern subjects to discriminate between different intensities of a tastant (Lundgrenet al., 1978). This latter study found no differences between the abilities of subjectsfrom Sweden, Poland, US and Japan to discriminate between different levels of sucrose.Thus, although there is growing evidence to indicate that little difference exists161