Taste perception and feeding behavior in nonhuman primates and human populations

Recent advances in taste physiology provide evidence against the traditional “western” notion that there are only four basic tastes. Each substance elicits a singular “signature” on the peripheral taste nerve, but in some cases the signals form separate clusters within the continuum of taste perceptions. We will discuss the taste abilities of nonhuman primates in terms of threshold and above-threshold responses to potential foods. As diets have evolved in species' environments, tastes have responded adaptively in order to maximize energy intake. In turn, food plants have evolved nutrients and toxins in relation to the tasting abilities of consumers. These compounds can be beneficial or harmful in various environments and at different concentrations. This cost-benefit ratio concerns all primates, including Homo sapiens populations living at subsistence level, and must be taken into account, together with psychosensory and sociocultural factors, to understand food choices.