Gustatory responses in three prosimian and two simian primate species (Tupaia glis, Nycticebus coucang, Galago senegalensis, Callithrix jacchus jacchus and Saguinus midas niger) to six sweeteners and miraculin and their phylogenetic implications

Abstract

The intake of six sweeteners was recorded together with their effects on the impulse activity of the chorda tympani proper nerve during their application to the tongue. The sweeteners were: acetosulfam, aspartame, D-tryptophan, glycine, xylitol and thaumatin. They were used at human equi-sweet concentrations. In all species, D-tryptophan was strongly preferred and gave a significant response, while aspartame and thaumatin gave neither a significant behavioral nor a significant neural response. Acetosulfam, glycine and xylitol elicited neural responses, but their behavioral effects differed from a rejection in some species to a preference in others. Miraculin, which has a sweetness inducing effect in man, showed this effect only in the platyrrhinean species and not in the prosimian