Halpern, BP; Darlington, RB

Chemical Senses [Chem. Senses], vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 501-511, Oct 1998

The amiloride-sensitivity of perceived taste qualities and time-intensity patterns for NaCl, and interactions between amiloride and NaCl as taste stimuli, were explored using caffeine as the control treatment. NaCl at 100, 250 and 500 mM, dissolved in 10 or 100 mu M amiloride, or in caffeine concentrations matched to the amiloride taste, was flowed over 39.3 mm super(2) of the anterodorsal tongue for 4 s using a closed stimulus delivery system. Amiloride, caffeine and NaCl in H sub(2)O were also presented. It was found that NaCl-amiloride mixtures were most frequently described as salty, with the incidence of salty descriptions directly associated with NaCl concentration but not significantly associated with the presence or concentration of amiloride. Amiloride in H sub(2)O was called `bitter', and the incidence of bitter descriptions was significantly associated with the presence of amiloride. The perceived temporal patterns varied with NaCl concentration but did not change with the presence of amiloride, except for an increase in perceived duration. No evidence was found for a dependence upon specific amiloride-sensitive mechanisms of human description of NaCl as salty or of gustatory temporal patterns evoked by NaCl.