Sensitivity of Assessors to Ferrous Salts

Abstract

Abstract:Taste is the chemical sensation whose function is not very well known. Recently it was shown that the range of taste is more extensive than the five basic taste sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. A metallic taste has been suggested as another basic taste, but its mode of perception is not well understood and has not been really accepted in the taste literature. Ferrous sulphate solutions were presented to the assessors so their sensitivity and best estimate thresholds (BET) were measured. The best estimated threshold range was 0.00049-0.00669 g/l for demineralised water, 0.00079-0.00669 g/l for distilled water and 0.00108-0.00669 g/l for tap water.

Metallic: A Bivalent Ambimodal Material Property?

“…As far as regular consumers are concerned, it would seem fair to say that the term is not clearly understood. Indeed, it has been suggested that its meaning may differ across individuals (Panovska et al, 2009), across samples (Schiffman, 2000), and may be influenced by whether assessors have been trained with a specific reference metallic sample prior to testing (see Lawless et al, 2004). 13 This would make it a polythetic term or category, in contrast to most of the terms we use to order our experience, which tend to be monothetic terms-that is, terms which group things in classes by reference to common features: A polythetic class does not require that one feature be evinced by every instance, there can be an array of features only some of which overlap from instance to instance (Needham, 1975).…”