Taste responsiveness to the 20 proteinogenic amino acids and taste preference thresholds for Glycine and L-Proline in spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)

• Main Author: Maitz, Anna
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för fysik, kemi och biologi 2009
• Subjects: Biology; Biologi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-19201

The present study assessed the taste responsiveness of four female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to the 20 proteinogenic amino acids and determined taste preference thresholds for Glycine and L-Proline. To this end a two-bottle preference test of brief duration (1min) was employed. When presented at a concentration of 200 mM, the spider monkeys significantly preferred three proteinogenic amino acids (Glycine, L-Proline and L-Alanine) over fresh water whereas four other amino acids were significantly rejected (L-Tyrosine, L-Valine, L-Cysteine and L-Isoleucine). At a concentration of 100 mM, seven proteinogenic amino acids were significantly preferred (Glycine, L-Proline, L-Alanine, L-Glutamic acid, L-Aspartic acid, L-Serine and L-Lysine) whereas one was significantly rejected (L-Tryptophan). A comparison between the taste qualities of the amino acids as described by humans and taste preference/rejection responses observed with the spider monkeys suggests a fairly high degree of agreement in perception of these taste substances between the two species. When given the choice between fresh water and defined concentrations of two amino acids that taste sweet to humans the spider monkeys were found to significantly discriminate concentrations as low as 10-50 mM of Glycine and 10-40 mM of L-Proline from the solvent. This suggests that spider monkeys are similar in their taste sensitivity for Glycine and L-Proline compared to humans and slightly more sensitive compared to mice.