final report on taste

Nikki Rudnick
Leslie Allan
Molly Kohut
Amy Johnson
Student Generated Lab Manual

*Introduction

The purpose of our lab is to determine if there is a correlation
between the number of taste buds a person has and their sense of taste.
We hypothesize that the more taste buds a person has, the greater his or
her sense of taste will be. We believe that the four different areas of the
tongue contribute to the different tastes that we experience. Each
personís ìsense of tasteî will be determined and rated based on their
ability to detect saltiness, bitterness, sweetness and sourness.
We plan to prove or disprove our hypothesis by finding background
information and experimenting on both classmates and random people
of various ages. For our experiment, we plan to count the number of
taste buds on each personís tongue and relate the resulting numbers to
their sense of taste by their responses to different foods.
Along with the experimentation each subject will answer a short
survey asking questions regarding their health history, health habits, and
other relevant issues. From research, we know that there are certain
factors that contribute to each personís sense of taste. We created the
survey questions from this research.

*Relevance of your research questions

We plan to determine how various health issues or how the number
of taste buds affects on oneís sense of taste. The conclusions we will be
able to make will be useful and interesting in determining how people
taste food differently. For example, certain individuals enjoy particular
foods that others do not. We would like to show why this difference is so
evident. These taste factors are also helpful in the marketing of certain
foods. The way a food tastes must be pleasing to the majority of its
consumers. If people have different taste senses then they will taste foods
differently. This is a factor that food companies must take into account.
The various saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and sourness of each food item
must be carefully monitored and adjusted to satisfy peopleís taste. This
experiment could have a broad effect on human knowledge because it
addresses an issue that most humans face at least three times a day.
There are experiments that aim to have subjects determine the four
main flavors on the tongue. Another experiment that was performed test
oneís recognition of different types of water, including various bottled
water brands and tap water. A personís recognition of water would be
correlated more to their experience with the particular water they drink,
as opposed to the number of taste buds that they have. The most
relevant experiment seems to be that of counting the buds and testing if
tasting ability depends on the number of buds a person has. We also
found interest in an experiment that tests taste sensitivity using potassium
chloride (a salt substitute) and saccharin. If a person finds both bitter,
they most likely have a strong sense of saccharin. If a person finds both
bitter, they most likely have a strong sense of taste. If neither tastes bitter,
chances are they do not have a strong sense of taste. Another
experiment tests whether the nose has any bearing on how food tastes.
By having subjects close their eyes and plug their nose, it can be
determined whether the sense of smell has any effect on how one
perceives taste.

*Materials and methods

In order to test this experiment, well use our classmates as subjects.
This experiment will be randomly sampled. We can ensure that date from
the class can be trusted because the students are not all the same.
People come from different backgrounds, have different taste aversions
are culturally different. The data should also be sound because we plan
to watch the subjects and make sure there are not mistakes in counting
and taste testing the different foods.
For the actual experiment, we first plan on administering a survey to
the subjects. The survey will look like this:

SURVEY

1. What sex are you? a) male b) female
2. Please write your age at the top of survey answer sheet.
3. Do you use any type of tobacco product? a)yes b)no c)occasionally
4. If you answered yes to question four, please estimate about how often
you use these products.
a) 1-5 times a month
b) 1-5 times a week
c) 1-3 times a day
d) 4-6 times a day
e) 6 + times a day
5. Do you have a tongue piercing? a) yes b) no c) I used to, but I took it
out
6. How would you rate your sense of taste?
a) poor b) fair c) good d) great e) excellent
7. How would you rate your sense of smell?
a) poor b) fair c) good d) great e) excellent
8. How many times a day do you brush your teeth?
a) none b) once c) twice d) thrice e) more than three times
9. How many times do you consume alcohol in one week?
a) never b) once c) twice d) three to four times e) every night
10. Have you ever been exposed to radiation therapy on a regular basis?
a) yes b) no
11. Do you currently have a cold? a) yes b) no
12. Do you currently wear (circle all that apply):
a) dentures b) braces c) retainer d)other mouth piece
13. Have you ever had surgery on any part of your mouth? a) yes b) no
14. Have you had any serious health conditions in the past that might
have affected your sense of taste? a) yes b) no
*Materials for taste test
Aspartame, sugar substitute, saccharin, disposable cups, water, sugar,
vinegar, salt, tooth picks, mirrors, potassium chloride (salt substitute), blue
food coloring, paper reinforcers, magnifying glass, flashlight
*Procedure
1. Count the number of fungiform papillae (most often referred to as
taste buds) on your tongue by using a paper reinforcer, blue food
coloring, a mirror, a magnifying glass, and a flashlight. Place a drop of
blue food coloring on your tongue. Mix it around in your mouth so that
the color evenly spreads throughout. Next, place a paper reinforcer on
the tip of your tongue toward the front right part of the middle line,
covering a portion of the blue colored tongue. Count the number of
fungiform papillae (the pinkish circles) by using the magnifying glass,
flashlight and mirror. You may need to have someone else hold one of
these while you count. Record the number that you count.
2. Next, mix a teaspoon of each four unidentified sweet substances in a
small cup. After each taste, label the item from sweetest to least
sweetest. Also taste and describe the salt and salt substitute. If the
substances both taste bitter, you most likely have a strong sense of taste.
If you find neither to taster bitter, you most likely have a weak taste sense.
Record your results.

3. Repeat the procedure for the sugar and vinegar. Test each of these
substances twice. The first time, hold your nose and place the water and
substance solution on your tongue. Next, repeat this step without holding
your nose. Was there any difference in how you perceived the taste?
Record your results.

Record Sheet for Procedure
1. Number of fungiform papillae counted: ________
2. Rate the four unidentified substances 1-4 (one being least sweet)
#1_____________ #2_____________ #3______________ #4_____________
3. Record your results on part three below. Rate whether your sense of
taste was stronger, weaker or the same in the columns provided:

*Results
See attached sheet for all configurations of results. The results are
attached to the hard copy and Nancy also has all of our results.
*Discussion and Results
In our experiment we wanted to research the correlation
between number of taste buds and how superb your sense of taste is. We
used four types of sugar, two types of salt and vinegar to test the persons
sense of taste, and had all subjects record their results We also had them
fill out a survey that dealt with factors that can effect taste and the
number of taste buds that they might have. We also had them count
their taste buds. We put our findings into logistic modeling,
ANOVA tables and bar graphs for analysis. What we found was that the
only correlation between taste and number of taste buds was whether or
not the subject had a cold. This correlation had the p-value of .07, even
though less than .05 is needed to prove a significant difference, .07 is
pretty close. This shows that taste can be influenced by a cold.
We thought that there would be a correlation between the number
of taste buds a person has and their sense of taste, but we could not
prove this. We also thought that smoking, colds and mouth surgery would
also have an effect, but this is not true either. We found during our
research that other scientist have found a correlation and we would like
to do further research on this. Our suggestions for future experiments
would be to survey a more diverse population because we only had one
smoker and one person with a pierced tongue. We would also suggest
testing people more than once to see if we would get different results. A
wider age ranger would have also been nice.

*Literature cited
Ardley, Neil. How Our Bodies Work: Skin, Hair and Teeth. New Jersey:
Schoolhouse Press, Inc., 1988.
The teeth section of this book refers to the mouth: how to take care of it,
different oral surgeries and their purposes, etc.

Backhouse, A.E. The Lexical Field of Taste. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1994
This book discusses in depth the study and knowledge of the Japanese
taste language.

Dictionary Information: Definition Taste.

This article is very plainly the definition of taste and the synonyms that
relate to taste.

Example: Taste Buds.
les/extstbud.htm>
This article describes the various influences on taste. It talks about
disorders in the sense of taste. There are a number of experiments
described that help determine if you are a ìsupertasterî.

How do taste and smell work?

This article discussed showed how taste and smell are related. It shows
how they work together to help us taste foods. There are four basic taste
sensations that make up our tongue and sense of taste.

How you taste can change

This article talks about how there are many different types of tasting
disorders. It specifically relates them to certain health conditions.

The investigation of the Taste Bud
this articel discusses a variety of experiments that can be developed to
see how certain tastes are affected by different circumstances in different
individuals. It deals with taste being affected by saliva, scent, sight and
different areas of the tongue.

ìLegislative workshop before the special committee on Aging and the
committee on Agriculture and Nutritionî. Elderly Nutrition: Policy Issues for
the 102nd Congress. Washington: US Government Printing, 1991.
A series of documents includeing a policy regarding the taste of the
elderly.

Macbeth, Helen. Food Preferences and Taste. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
1997.
This book is a good source in finding information on gustatory perceptions.
It gives information of what point in our lives our sense of taste is
complete.

Re: Can you fool your taste buds?

This article describes how taste involves other senses such as, smelling and
seeing something, before tasting it.

Re: Taste buds and blood.
>
This article discusses how many taste buds are actually on a tongue. It
describes a method of determing approximately how many taste buds
are on the tongue.

Seremetakis, Nadia C. The Senses Still. San Francisco: Westview Press.
1994
This source provides information about the effect tobacco has on taste
perception.

Silverstein, Alvin and Virginia B. The Story of the Mouth. Toronto: General
Publishing Co. Limited. 1984
The section labeled, ìThat Versatile Tongueî provides excellent
information on the different parts of the oral cavity, taste and taste buds.

Stick out your tongue and say ah!

This article is aobut all aspects of the tongue. It discusses how the tongue
works. There are lots of parts that work with the tongue to help us eat,
breather, sleep, talk and sing. There are different experiments to try to
fool your taste buds in this article.

Taste alterations
This article deals with how taste can be drastically affected by radiation.
It tells people how to deal with the effects after losing many taste buds.
There are methods to build up your taste and bring it back.

Taste Buds
abs4/taste_buds.htm>
This site includes an examply picture of a magnified taste bud.

You sense of Taste
This article describes the steps of tasting foods and other substances. It
discusses why things taste the way that they do, and why tastes change
over time.

Next Article
Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu

Here is a list of responses that have been posted to this Study...

• (12/13/02) [ Contributor: -Section: ]

Respond to this Submission!

IMPORTANT: For each Response, make sure the title of the response is different than previous titles shown above!

Visit the rest of the site!