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From: CHEMICAL SIGNALS IN VERTEBRATES 4 Edited by David Duvall, Dietland Muller.Schwarle and Robert M. Silverstein (Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1986) CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES OF TASTE AND SMELL PERCEPTION Richard L. Doty Smell and Taste Center School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 INTRODUCTION There have been few quantitative cross-cultural studies of taste and smell perception in humans, despite the obvious relevance of such research to scientific and commercial enterprises, and the fact that many cultures differ in their food preparation, dietary, and personal hygienic practices. The important role of the chemical senses to the species as a whole in such diverse matters as the detection of dangerous fumes and the selection of appropriate foodstuffs suggests that the basic chemosensory mechanisms responsible for the detection and evaluation of chemical signals are essen- tially the same among cultures. However, genetically related sensitivities to specific odorants and tastants (e.g., androstenone and phenylthiocarbam- ide) vary in frequency from group to group, and likely account for at least some cross-cultural differences in taste and odor preferences and aversions. These genetically determined factors interact with the well-known influences of experience on taste and smell perception to produce a variety of chemo- sensoryexperiences. For the purposes of the present review, a "cross-cultural" study is defined as one between or among human groups which differ on the basis of racial, geographic and/or historical factors, often reflecting differences in social customs, diet, language, artistic expression, and socio-political attitudes. "Culture" is viewed as a general and dynamic aggregate and rarely reflects mutually exclusive genetic or experiential entities. OLFACTION Cross-cultural Studies of Olfactory Sensitivity and Odor Preferences A number of anthropologists evaluated the olfactory sensitivity and preferences of natives from primitive tribes in the late 19th and early 2Oth centuries. Unfortunately, few subjects were tested in these methodologically flawed studies. Nonetheless, they are worthy of brief mention here because of their historical interest (for additional details, see McCartney, 1968). Lombroso and Carrara (1896f1897) presented a group of Dinkas of the Sudan (number not reported) dilutions of the oil of cloves ranging from 673
Transcript
Page 1: From: CHEMICAL SIGNALS IN VERTEBRATES 4 Edited by David Duvall

From: CHEMICAL SIGNALS IN VERTEBRATES 4

Edited by David Duvall, Dietland Muller.Schwarle

and Robert M. Silverstein

(Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1986)

CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES OF TASTE AND SMELL PERCEPTION

Richard L. Doty

Smell and Taste CenterSchool of MedicineUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA 19104

INTRODUCTION

There have been few quantitative cross-cultural studies of taste andsmell perception in humans, despite the obvious relevance of such researchto scientific and commercial enterprises, and the fact that many culturesdiffer in their food preparation, dietary, and personal hygienic practices.The important role of the chemical senses to the species as a whole in suchdiverse matters as the detection of dangerous fumes and the selection ofappropriate foodstuffs suggests that the basic chemosensory mechanismsresponsible for the detection and evaluation of chemical signals are essen-tially the same among cultures. However, genetically related sensitivitiesto specific odorants and tastants (e.g., androstenone and phenylthiocarbam-ide) vary in frequency from group to group, and likely account for at leastsome cross-cultural differences in taste and odor preferences and aversions.These genetically determined factors interact with the well-known influencesof experience on taste and smell perception to produce a variety of chemo-sensoryexperiences.

For the purposes of the present review, a "cross-cultural" study isdefined as one between or among human groups which differ on the basis ofracial, geographic and/or historical factors, often reflecting differencesin social customs, diet, language, artistic expression, and socio-politicalattitudes. "Culture" is viewed as a general and dynamic aggregate andrarely reflects mutually exclusive genetic or experiential entities.

OLFACTION

Cross-cultural Studies of Olfactory Sensitivity and Odor Preferences

A number of anthropologists evaluated the olfactory sensitivity andpreferences of natives from primitive tribes in the late 19th and early 2Othcenturies. Unfortunately, few subjects were tested in these methodologicallyflawed studies. Nonetheless, they are worthy of brief mention here becauseof their historical interest (for additional details, see McCartney, 1968).

Lombroso and Carrara (1896f1897) presented a group of Dinkas of theSudan (number not reported) dilutions of the oil of cloves ranging from

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1:200 to 1:50,000. These authors reported that recognition did not occurfor concentrations lower than 1:2000, and that three Dinkas were unable

to recognize "q!;~~~~~~qif'~.~.q~!J~8hjAr:!~~~~t'!f~~. No controlswere tested, and ~o~~:ros?,,~tld.:<;:,-:tr,~a.:fi""\i~~~~~e~ ,t;p~~ language problems mayhave influenced the accuracy of !:hTJ.r J;J.ndJ.ngs. ,

Six years later MyersC(1903}'used aqueous solutions of camphor to eval-uate the olfactory sensitivity of a group of Murray Islanders, In addition,these individuals were asked to describe the odors of perfumes and otherscents, and to indicate whet'her they liked or disliked them, The average

olfactory acuity of the islanders was reported as being slightly higherthan that of Scottish control subjects, and their likes and dislikes werenoted as being quite similar (e,g" they disliked asafoetida, valeric acid,and civet, and liked musk, thyme and violet},

Rivers (1904/1905) also used a dilution series of camphor to test the

olfactory sensitivity of the Todas of the Nilgiri Hills in southern India.Approximately 50 Toda men were tested, along with a few Toda women andEnglishmen who were observing the activities. For a number of reasons,Rivers was unable to provide an exact comparison between the Todas and theEnglish, but concluded that they were not superior to them and possiblyinferior.

Using a Zwaardemaker olfactometer, Grijns (1906) compared the sensiti-vity of a small group of Javanese subjects to those of some Europeans. Heconcluded that the Javanese were about twice as sensitive to the three testmaterials --acetic acid, ammonia and phenol. Unfortunately, these materialsare poor choices for olfactory work, as at least two of them have strong

trigeminal stimulative properties (acetic acid and ammonia; c.f., Doty etal., 1978) and one of them is a deadly poison (phenol). Thus, conclusionsbased upon them are highly suspect. A similar criticism can be leveled atKoster's (1921) study of the smell ability of the natives of the NetherlandsEast Indies, in which the same conclusion of greater sensitivity in thenatives (compared to Dutchmen) was reached using acetic acid and ammonia.

Given such methodologic problems, no consensus can be drawn from theseearly cross-cultural studies. However, two modern studies (Schleidt et al'.,1981; Davis and Pangborn, 1985) shed light on whether at least some culturaldifferences exist in olfactory perception.

In the first of these contemporary studies. Schleidt et al. (1981)sought to determine whether German. Japanese. and Italian subjects differedin their abilities to distinguish between (a) their own axillary odors. (b)the axillary odors of opposite-sexed cohabiting partners. and (c) theaxillary odors of strangers. as well as in their abilities to assign suchodors to correct gender categories. In addition. hedonic responses werealso obtained. Twenty-four German and 25 Italian couples participated inthe study. as did seven Japanese couples and 15 male and 15 female singles.Each subject wore a cotton shirt for seven consecutive nights and used nodeodorants or perfume during the study. The subjects of each group werethen presented with 10 shirts and asked (1) Which shirt has your own smell?(2) Which shirt has your partner's smell? (3) Which shirts smell male?(4) Which shirts smell female? and (5) Which shirts smell pleasant. whichindifferent. and which unpleasant? This task was repeated three times.

One quarter to slightly more than one third of the subjects correctlyreported their own odor or that of their partner on at least two of thethree trials. From 20% to 64% of the subjects distinguished male fromfemale odors, with the females of all cultures being more accurate than themales in this regard. A larger proportion of the Japanese subjects discrim-

iniated correctly between the sexes, although it is not clear if this was

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due to ethnic- (or cultural-) related sex differences in odor production,odor perception, or some combination of both. The hedonic responses tomale and female odors were the same :j.n all three cultures, with male odorbeing judged less pleasant (and more intense) than female odor. Unlike theGerman women, the Japanese and Italian women classified their partners'odors more often as unpleasant than pleasant. No marked cultural variatioDwas noted in the responses of the males, who generally judged their part-ners' odors as pleasant.

In the second of these studies, Davis and Pangborn (1985) establishedpleasantness ratings for 22 microencapsulated odorants in 24 study groupslocated in 20 countries (typically 30 subjects/group). Although the finalanalysis of these data has not yet been performed, preliminary resultsindicate that the odors were generally perceived as similarly pleasant orunpleasant to all of the groups tested (all intergroup correlations weregreater than 0.645, with a mean of 0.864 and a median of 0.876). In a fewrare instances, the pleasantness reactions to two or three odorants wereidiosyncratic for a given study group.

In summary, the question as to whether olfactory sensitivity differsamong persons from various cultural groups has not yet received extensiveinvestigation. However, the recent studies by Schleidt et al. (1981) andDavis and Pangborn (1985) suggest that individuals from different culturesrate the relative pleasantness of most odors in a similar manner, implyingthat more similarities than differences may exist among cultures in thisregard. This appears to be true for a wide variety of odors, including body

odor from the axillae.

Cross-cultural Studies of Sex Differences in Odor Identification

We recently sought to determine if the sex difference in odor identifi-cation ability observed in American Blacks and Whites (Doty et al., 1984a,b; Figure I) was also present in American Koreans and Native Japanesesubjects. In this research, the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identifi-cation Test (a 40-item standardized forced-choice test with microencapsulatedodors) was administered to 438 Black Americans, 1559 White Americans, 106Korean Americans, and 308 Native Japanese. The Black and White Americanswere comprised mainly of university employees and students, participants inregional health fairs, primary and secondary school students, and youngstersenrolled at summer camps and,day care centers. The Korean Americans were

part of a Sunday school population at a local Korean church, whereas theJapanese subjects were members of the staff and faculty of a hospital in a

medium-sized Japanese metropolitan city (Kawasaki-shi).

As reported in detail elsewhere (Doty et al., 1985), the women of allfour groups outperformed their male counterparts, on the average, to thesame general degree (Table 1). Thus, whatever the basis of the sex differ-

ence observed in odor identification, it appears to transcend the geneticand cultural differences among these groups.

In addition to the presence of a consistent sex difference in t~stscores within each of the four study groups, a significant difference wasobserved among the groups in terms of the absolute test scores. On theaverage, the Korean Americans outperformed the Black and White Americanswho, in turn, outperformed the Native Japanese (Table 1). All of thesemeans differed significantly from one another, with the exception of theBlack and White American ones, which did not differ (Tukey B multiple-comparison post hoc analysis; ps < 0.01). Although the reason(s) for these

ethnic/cultural differences are not known, differential familiarity with

the items is a likely factor, since several of the odors which were noteasily identified by the Japanese subjects were unfamiliar to a number of

675

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~40...0~

~

...35..I~(t:

:g

~...30~

~

T

t.40"

"

36SMELL IDENTIFICATION TEST SCORES

.--FEMALES (n= "581

0 0 MALES (n= 7971

TOTAL GROUP ( N = 19551

~

~

~25L.J:)..J~

~201-

(ijIl.:)

:2:/:>':{QL.J~ '-(' , , , , , , , , I ,

5-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99

AGE GROUP

Fig. 1. Scores on the University of Pennsylvania Smell

Identification Test as a function of age and

gender of the subjects. Numbers by data points

indicate sample sizes. From Doty et al.,

1984b. Copyright 1984 by the American Associa-

tion for the Advancement of Science. Reprinted

by permission.

them, including "cherry,(see Table 2).

" "fruit punch," "wintergreen," and "dill pickle"

Despite these differences in overall test scores, the relative diffi-culty of the items was similar for each of the study groups. Thus, KendallCoefficients of Concordance --calculated for the male and female groupsacross the test items ranked, within each group, according to the propor-tion of the group correctly answering them --were strong and statisti-cally significant (for males, W = 0.67; for females, W = 0.64;ps < 0.001).

Table 1. Analysis of covariance age-adjusted means on the Universityof Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test for four culturalgroups (covariates: age and age2). From Doty et al. (1985).

29.5 31.8Native Japanese

32.4Black Americans 34.0

33.6White Americans 35.8

Korean Americans 36.6 38.0 37.3

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Table 2. Percent of subjects within four ethnic/cultural groupscorrectly identifying items of the University of PennsylvaniaSmell Identification Test (UPSIT). Note that the statisticalanalyses reported in the text take into account the agedifferences among the groups, but that the values in thetable represent raw scores.

BlackAmericans

White Korean NativeAmericans Americans Japanese

78.191.663.765.892.587.985.471.781.781.7

83.386.376.069.989.488.682.881.582.680.2

92.597.290.774.895.394.498.169.292.586.9

95.197.174.473.434.484.492.955.265.667.5

BananaBubble GumCedarCheddar CheeseCherryChocolateCinnamonCloveCoconutDill Pickle

89.790.076.391.885.875.692.087.768.482.2

82.189.669.190.484.082.390.590.189.381.8

45.891.665.989.690.676.993.573.795.172.7

100.098.186.098.196.397.2

100.098.198.194.4

Fruit PunchGasolineGingerbreadGrapeGrassLeatherLemonLicoriceLilacLime

88.692.992.784.094.189.390.482.096.179.7

89.488.592.183.692.490.289.780.693.086.0

96.398.197.292.5

100.099.199.194.4

100.091.6

91.294.897.195.594.584.493.294.597.784.1

MentholMintMotor OilNatural Gas (Odorized)OnionOrangePaint ThinnerPeachPeanutPine

84.781.590.685.687.293.490.982.285.288.4

82.582.286.783.589.493.086.582.485.689.5

98.198.199.193.597.299.198.182.299.197.2

PineapplePizzaRoot BeerRoseSmokeSoapStrawberryTerpentineWatermelonWintergreen

94.577.676.081.579.298.180.577.687.774.4

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TASTE

Most of the available data on cross-cultural chemosensory differencescomes from the sense of taste. rather than from the sense of smell. Thisis due. in part. to the traditional difficulty in presenting olfactorystimuli to subjects and to wide-spread interest in understanding the gene-tics of taste sensitivity. particularly to phenylthiocarbamide and related

compounds. However. just as in olfaction. the data are limited and fewwell-controlled studies have. been performed.

A large number of cross-cultural studies on taste relate to how taste

experiences are described in various cultures, rather than to how suchcultures differ in taste perception, per se (e.g., Chamberlain, 1983; Myers,

1904; O'Mahony and Alba, 1980a, b; O'Mahony and Ishii, 1985a, b; O'Mahonyand Muhiudeen, 1976, 1977; O'Mahony and Tsang, 1980). Nonetheless, as

suggested by theories such as those proposed by Sapir, Whorf and others(see Kay and Kempton, 1984), language and cognition are intimately related.Clearly, words are invented to accommodate those aspects of the environmentabout which members of a group feel the need to communicate. Just as

Eskimos and skiers classify snow into a variety of different types, perfumers,wine tasters, and taste researchers use specialized terms to describe pro-perties of food and drink important to them in their professional activi-ties. Thus, it is not surprising that a number of Japanese researchersand food specialists use, in addition to the traditional four basic tastecategories, a fifth category termed "umami" to include monosodium glutamateand related compounds used in oriental cooking. Such a category undoubtedlyreflects not only cultural experience with such chemicals, but the fact thatthe taste(s) of these materials are not clearly categorizable into any ofthe traditional taste categories. American subjects asked to sort varioustastants (including monosodium glutamate) into categories of their own

choosing place such materials into a separate category outside the saltyone in the same way as done by Japanese subjects, suggesting they perceivethem similarly (O'Mahony and Ishii, 1985; see also Schiffman and Dackis,

1975; Schiffman et al., 1975, 1980).

Perhaps the best documented case of a genetically-determined cross-cultural difference in chemosensation is that shown for a class of bitter-

tasting compounds which contain a thiocarbamide group (e.g., the thioureas,thiooxazolines, and thiothiazolines). Members of this class of goitrogeniccompounds are found in edible plants of the Brassica genus, including kale,

cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and turnips (Van Et ten, 1969). The frequency ofthe "non-taster" phenotype among Caucasian populations of Western Europeand North America to phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a member of this class of

substances, is approximately 30% (Allison and Blumberg, 1959). However,this frequency is much lower among other groups that have been tested,

including Black Americans (6.4%), Chinese (10.6%), and native inhabitantsof highland Peru (1.9%)(Barnicot, 1959; Johnston et al.,1966; Paolucciet al., 1977). The degree of sensitivity to such substances alters, tosome degree, dietary preferences. For example, Fischer et al. (1961)noted a weak, but statistically significant, negative relationship betweenthe percentage of foods checked as disliked on a ll8 item food questionnaireand taste thresholds for both quinine and 6-n-propylthiouracil (a substance

closely related to PTC), but not taste thresho~ds for d-sucrose, sodiumchloride, and hydrochloric acid. Greene (1974) presents data which suggesttasters of PTC in two Ecuadorian Andean communities in which goiter isendemic limit their ingestion of goitrogenic foodstuffs containing naturally

occurring thiocarbamides.

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Davis (1978) describes a group of Yucatan inhabitants who use coffeeextensively and who are relatively insensitive to PTC. He argues thatinsensitivity to bitter substances may confer a survival advantage in thatroasted coffee contains therapeutic levels of niacin, which is generallydeficient in corn- or maize-based diets. Cultures with maize as the domin-ant dietary staple often evidence pellagra, since corn has a low tryptophancontent. Interestingly, as reviewed by Katz (1982), some cultures havedeveloped food preparation practices which help to overcome this problem.For example, a number treat ma~ze with an alkali solution which liberatesniacin from an undigestible segment and improves the amino acid qualityof the digestible fraction of the food.

Cross-cultural Studies of Suprathreshold Taste Intensity and Hedonicity

Aside from differences in basal sensitivity to tastants such as PTC,differences in various suprathreshold measures of taste perception havebeen noted among a number of cultural groups. In one of the first suchcross-cultural taste studies, Moskowitz et al. (1975) found that thepleasantness ratings given to quinine and citric acid by Indian laborersof the Karnataka region differ considerably from those given by Western andIndian medical students. Thus, the Indian laborers rated low concentrationiof quinine as pleasant, whereas the medical students rated them as unpleas-ant. Interestingly, the Indian laborers found citric acid to be morepleasant as its concentration was increased, whereas the medical studentsfound just the opposite. Moskowitz et al. suggest these preference differ-ences may be the result of different dietary habits and histories.

More recently, Bertino et al. (1983) had 34 native-born Americans ofEuropean ancestry and 28 native Taiwanese residing in the United Statesrate the intensity (i.e., sweetness, bitterness or saltiness) and pleasant-ness of various concentrations of sucrose, caffeine, and sodium chloridedissolved in water. In addition, a subset of these individuals providedsuch ratings to cookies varying in sucrose content. In both cases, theTaiwanese assigned higher sweetness ratings to the sucrose than did thenative Americans. The Taiwanese tended to rate the sucrose solutions ascomparatively more pleasant, although, in the case of the cookies, thiswas observed only for the lower sucrose concentrations. Compared to theAmericans, the Taiwanese reported the low concentrations of salt as saltierand the high concentrations as less salty, with both high and low concen-trations being rated as slightly more pleasant. In addition, there was atendency for the Taiwanese to rate caffeine more intense, although therewas no statistically significant difference between the two groups inits rated bitterness or pleasantness. A subsequent study of 30 CaucasianAmericans and 30 Chinese from the People's Republic of China confirmed thatChinese subjects rate sucrose as comparatively more pleasant than Americansubjects (Bertino and Chan, 1985).

A number of studies of American Black and White populations suggestthat they may have somewhat different taste preferences. For example,Greene, Desor and Maller (1975) found that Black children between 9 and15 years of age evidenced a stronger preference than White children formore concentrated solutions of sucrose, lactose, and sodium chloride.Interestingly, this extensive study (which tested 311 monozygotic and like-sex dizygotic twin pairs) found heritability estimates for such preferencesto be uniformly low. In a subsequent study by these same authors, no sig-nificant difference between Black and White adults was observed, suggestingthat this phenomenon may disappear in adulthood (Desor et al., 1975). How-ever, these authors noted a nonsignificant tendency for Blacks to selectstronger solutions than Whites, and suggested that "Race differences in pre-ferences for sweet and salty might be observed among adults if largersamples are tested."

679

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Table 3. Mean hedonic and preferred frequency ratings of Black andWhite American military personnel for selected desserts andbeverages. Modified from Meiselman (1977). Hedonic ratingsbased upon 9-point category scale developed by Peryam andPilgrim (1957).

FOOD ITEM MEAN HEDONIC RATING MEAN PREFERRED FREQUENCY

(per month)Blacks WhitesBlacks Whites

Desserts

5.766.375.784.897.366.205.85

5.145.835.294.424.535.735.57

8.10.

9.7.

14.10.

8.

5.928.127.014.585.237.736.50

Bread PuddingPineapple SundaeRaisin CookiesRaisin PieSweet Potato PieVanilla WafersYellow Cake

5.555.716.035.935.916.245.505.775.666.125.575.686.735.286.046.045.693.97

13.12.14.13.15.16.13.16.13.15.13.13.16.11.16.16.13.

7.

8.729.269.69

10.3010.0812.94

8.929.75

10.5412.9710.0510.7813.00

8.0910.2911.34

9.234.41

Beverages

Cherry Flavored Drink 6.36Cherry Soda 6.38Fruit Punch 6.84Ginger Ale 6.48Grape Flavored Drink 6.84Grape Juice 6.95Grape Lemonade 6.50Grape Soda 6.92Grapefruit Juice 6.41Grapefruit Orange Juice 6.81Grapefruit Pineapple Juice 6.46Lemon Lime Soda 6.32Lemonade 7.21Lime Flavored Drink 5.91Orange Flavored Drink 6.92Orange Soda 7.14Pineapple Juice 6.37Prune Juice 4.59

Other Beverages

5.607.604.97

6.578.085.85

15.4222.09

9.25

19.9225.1012.44

Fresh CoffeeMilkTomato Juice

Food preference surveys suggest that such race differences are likelyto be present in adults. For example, Meiselman (1977) obtained preferenceratings and data of frequency of preferred use from 4,000 American militarypersonnel for each of 378 food names. Although the subjects' region ofresidence or upbringing (northern or southern United States) was related tothe food preferences, Blacks consistently reported stronger preferences thanWhites for sweetened desserts and drinks. Mean hedonic ratings and frequencyindications (how many days per month they would like to eat the food) arepresented for such food items in Table 3. The greater preference by Blacksfor these items contrasted with the greater preference of Whites for such

680

95491858603057

,40

,87

,69

,06

,41

,32

,70

,04

,90

,98

,96

,66

,17

,06

,20

97

,32

30

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drinks as milk, fresh coffee, and tomato juice. A subsequent study of 1719Air Force personnel also found these differences, although statistical sig-nificance was present only for tomato juice in the case of the latter threeitems (Wyant and Meiselman, 1984).

DISCUSSION

It is apparent from this brief review that cross-cultural studies ofchemosensory function are rather limited in both number and scope. Nonethe-less, the available data suggest that considerable uniformity exists acrosscultures in the perception of tastants and odorants. Thus, the relativeidentifiability of odorants, as well as their perceived pleasantness, isqui~e similar among a number of ethnic/cultural groups. Although the Japan-ese use I'umami" as a fifth basic taste class, American subjects similarlysort compounds of this class into a separate taste category when not con-strained by verbal categories, suggesting they perceive such substances ina similar manner.

Within the framework of general perceptual similarity, however, liesevidence that cross-cultural differences are present in more subtle measuresof chemosensory experience. Thus, it appears that Chinese and Black Ameri-can subjects perceive several tastants as more pleasant and, in some cases,more intense than do their White American counterparts. Likewise, severallines of evidence suggest that Black Americans have a stronger preferencefor sweet foods and beverages than White Americans.

As with a number of sensory phenomena, the human and animal literaturesuggests that odor and taste preferences are a complex conglomerate ofinteractions between experience and inherent sensory propensities. Thus,rats can be selectively bred for high and low saccharin preferences (Nachman,1959), although it is possible that the selection is for dams who producesweet milk to which the infants develop an acquired preference. In general,experience seems to be prepotent for the development of human taste prefer-ences. Thus, Greene et al. (1975) found no evidence for the heritability ofthe sucrose preference difference between Black and White American infants,and Beauchamp and Moran (1982, 1984) demonstrated that infants with ahistory of dietary exposure to sweetened water ingested relatively moresucrose-flavored water in tests at 6 months and at 2 years of age. Likingfor flavors can be enhanced by pairing a relatively neutral flavor with ahedonically positive taste (Zellner et al., 1983), as well as by simplyexposing a subject to the flavor (so-called "mere exposure"; see Cain andJohnson, 1978; Pliner, 1982; Rozin and Schiller, 1980; Zajonc, 1968).Interestingly, exposure of rats for 18 days postpartum to peppermint odorresults in increased bulbar uptake of 2-deoxy-D-glucose in response to sub-sequent peppermint odor stimulation, suggesting that odor exposure may alterneurological responsiveness (Coopersmith and Leon, 1984).

The social milieu in which exposure to tastes or odors occurs is alsoimportant in facilitating the development of preferences or aversions, asevidenced in studies of the enculturation of food habits. In general, suchenculturation occurs quite rapidly and depends upon a number of factors.For example, Gupta (1975) found that nonvegetarian Indian Hindus who cameto the United States accepted beef in less than a year, although theirvegetarian counterparts took much longer for this transition. Acceptanceof Western food habits was found to be related to marital status, age, sex,length of stay in the United States, caste, and the rural-urban backgroundof the subjects. In a similar study of first and second generation Chineseadolescent immigrant boys to Canada, Hrboticky and Krondly (1984) foundthat the second generation boys and the boys with more accultured patternsof language use gave higher hedonic flavor and prestige ratings to dessert,

681

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snack, and fast foods, and discriminated better between nutrient rich andpoor foods (as assessed by changes in perception of health value). Inter-estingly, the importance of social factors is suggested even in non-humanprimates. Thus, chimpanzees can develop a liking for what appears to be agenerally aversive tastant (chili pepper) within the context of a closesocial bond with a human (Rozin and Kennel, 1983).

Overall, it is clear from the present review that much more researchis needed to explore cross-cultural differences in smell and taste function.Furthermore, it is apparent that the reasons for cultural differences, whenpresent, can be quite complex. In addition to the factors mentioned above,it should be noted, in closing, that variations in the general health andnutrition of subjects may also account for some cross-cultural differencesin smell and taste function. Thus, persons on sodium restricted diets cometo prefer low concentrations of salt (Bertino et al., 1982), and taste pre-ferences for sucrose can be altered by the actions of insulin (Jacobs, 1958;Mayer-Gross and Walker, 1956). As dramatically pointed out by Lepkovsky(1977), American soldiers in a World War II prison camp, who were subsistingon a ration which was 200 calories short of their basal needs, developedfood preferences which differed considerably from those exhibited undernormal conditions. Thus, powdered milk became the most preferred item,followed by meat. Cheese, jam, sugar and chocolate bars were not strongly

preferred.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am particularly grateful to the following individuals for providingme with helpful suggestions and information related to this review;Linda Bartoshuk, Mary Bertino, Richard Davis, Solomon Katz, Sidney Mintz,Michael O'Mahony, Rose Marie Pangborn, and Paul Rozin. In addition, I thankTom Gregor, David A.. Marshall, Jeanne McSloy, R. Gregg Settle, and TeresaAnne Vollmecke for commenting on an earlier draft of the paper, and DeniseThomason for typing sections of the manuscript.

REFERENCES

Allison, A. C., and Blumberg, B. S., 1959, Ability to taste phenylthiocarba~mide among Alaskan Eskimos and other populations, Human BioI., 31:352.

Barnicot, N. A., 1950-1951, Taste deficiency for phenyl~r~n AfricanNegroes and Chinese, Ann. Euge?ics, 15:248.

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