Fatty Acid Taste Thresholds: Caproic, Lauric, Oleic, Linoleic, Linolenic

N/ACompletedNCT01996566

Purdue University30 enrolled

Overview

Differences in human oral sensitivity for caproic, lauric, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids will be explored. Prior work indicates that there may be a learning effect in measuring detection thresholds for free fatty acids. This study is designed to determine the number of visits necessary to attenuate this learning effect and also to test whether this effect continues across different types of fatty acids or is specific to each fatty acid. This will aid in understanding how many visits are required to obtain reliable data and if less expensive fatty acids can be used to attenuate learning before testing thresholds for more expensive fatty acids.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Taste Sensitivity Fatty Acid Type

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * 18-60 years of age * in good health * available for 3 months Exclusion Criteria: * Participation in a different fat taste study in previous 6 months

Locations (1)

Purdue University

West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Oral sensitivity to oleic, lauric, linoleic, linolenic and caproic acids measured by the ascending 3 alternative forced choice test as described in American Society and Testing and Methods E679

Thresholds for taste of each fatty acid will be determined using the 3 alternative forced choice test. Participants will taste 3 samples, one of which contains a fatty acid, and select which sample they believe is different. The concentration of fatty acid used will range from very dilute to a maximum of 5%. The test is repeated over the range of concentrations until a participant is able to correctly identify the fatty acid or until the maximum concentration is reached.

Time frame: Measured at weekly intervals over 3 months

Secondary Outcomes

DNA sequence of potential fatty acid receptors (e.g., CD36, GPR120, GPR48)

Saliva will be collected to analyze any correlations between fatty acid receptor genes and sensitivity.

Time frame: This will be collected at the final visit of the study, approximate 2-3 months from participant enrollment depending on how frequently the participant is able to come to the lab

Amount of habitual dietary fat intake

A survey will be administered to determine each participant's habitual dietary fat intake

Time frame: Baseline

Measurement of hunger

Participants will rate how hungry they are on a line scale because commencing each study threshold test

Time frame: This will be measured at every study visit (21 visits plus 1 screening visit) over the 2-3 months of the study