Fatty Acid Taste
The Fatty Acid Taste Study ran from November 2014 to August 2015. 1,020 participants enrolled with the help of 29 community scientists. This two-year study was led by Nicole Garneau, PhD, and Richard Mattes, PhD, and made possible by a partnership between the Health Science Department at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Nutrition Science Department at Purdue University.
OUR QUESTION
- Are people able to detect different amounts of linoleic acid (a fatty acid) when their sense of smell is blocked?
RESULTS
- People are able to detect the taste of fatty acids while blocking their ability to smell, but to different degrees.
- There was no link between body fat percentage and the ability to detect the linoleic acid taste.
- Women were much better than men at discerning the taste, and young people 17 and under, especially girls, were better than older people.
- With these results, we helped with one step in the taste determination process: demonstrating perception of fat taste without the sense of smell.