Preference for Sucralose Predicts Behavioral Responses to Sweet and Bittersweet Tastants

• Published in: Chemical senses 2012-06, Vol.37 (5), p.445-453
• Main Authors: Loney, Gregory C, Torregrossa, Ann-Marie, Carballo, Chris, Eckel, Lisa A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: analogs & derivatives; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Bitter taste; Choice Behavior; Choice Behavior - physiology; drug effects; Food Preferences; Food Preferences - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grooming; Grooming - drug effects; Grooming - physiology; Male; Olfaction. Taste; Original; Perception; pharmacology; phenotypic variation; physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Quinine; Quinine - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Saccharin; Saccharin - pharmacology; Sodium chloride; Sodium Chloride - pharmacology; Substance P; sucralose; Sucrose; Sucrose - analogs & derivatives; Sucrose - pharmacology; Sweet taste; Sweeteners; Sweetening Agents; Sweetening Agents - pharmacology; Tastants; Taste; Taste - drug effects; Taste - physiology; Taste Perception; Taste Perception - drug effects; Taste Perception - physiology
• ISSN: 0379-864X; 1464-3553
• DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjr126

Rats can be classified as either sucralose avoiders (SA) or sucralose preferrers (SP) based on their behavioral responses in 2-bottle preference, 1-bottle intake, and brief-access licking tests. The present study demonstrates that this robust phenotypic variation in the preference for sucralose predicts acceptance of saccharin, an artificial sweetener with a purported concentration-dependent "bitter" side taste and a 0.25 M sucrose solution adulterated with increasing concentrations of quinine hydrochloride (QHCl). Specifically, SA displayed decreased preference for and intakes of saccharin (≥41.5 mM) and sucrose–QHCl (>0.5 mM QHCl) solutions, relative to SP. In a second experiment involving brief-access (30-s) tests, SP and SA did not differ in their unconditioned licking responses across a range of sodium chloride or QHCl solutions (0.03–1 mM). However, the acceptability threshold for sucrose was lower in SA, relative to SP (0.06 and 0.13 M, respectively). Our findings suggest that phenotypic differences in sucralose preference are indicative of a more general difference in the hedonic processing of stimuli containing "bittersweet" or "sweet" taste qualities.