SHORT COMMUNICATION Are the Tastes of Polycose and Monosodium

To study whether Polycose and monosodium L-glutamate (L-MSG) have unique tastes differing from the traditional four basic tastes, chemosensory profiles were established for Polycose, L-MSG and a group of related compounds (sucrose, maltose, monosodium D-glutamate (D-MSG), sodium chloride, calcium chloride). Flavors were assessed using whole-mouth tests in human subjects with nose open or clamped to reduce olfactory input. Polycose (a mixture of glucose-based oligosaccharides) had a flavor consisting of an olfactory component and a maltose-like taste. L-MSG and o-MSG profiles differed from each other, and from NaCI and CaCI2. L-MSG had a lower threshold and a higher frequency of 'other ' tastes than the Dform. The data do not support a 'polysaccharide ' taste, bu