Perception and sensory acceptance of salty taste by individuals who work/study on different shifts

Night activity, whether at work or in teaching, has been increasing significantly in recent years. However, the human being has a daytime nature and sleep restriction that can influence the modulation of various situations managed by the circadian cycle, such as eating behaviour. Thus, we evaluated the perception and sensory acceptance of salty taste by individuals who work/study in different shifts. Three groups of individuals were recruited: Control group (individuals that study during the day and do not work at night), Group 1 (individuals that study in the evening) and Group 2 (individuals that work overnight). The individuals were submitted to a detection threshold test using sodium chloride solutions and to a sensory acceptance test using a structured hedonic scale and a Just-About-Right scale for salty taste in meatball. Sleep time decreased significantly from the Control group to Group 1, and then even more to Group 2. The detection threshold of Group 2 was significantly higher than the other groups. Nevertheless, few statistical differences were found between the three groups in terms of sensory acceptance of salty taste. Concluding, the change in the sleep pattern, either due to a shift change or in the amount of sleep time, influences the salty taste sensory perception