Effect of Altitude on Taste Thresholds

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate what effect altitude has on a person's ability to detect the four basic tastes (salt, sour, bitter, and sweet). Increasing molar concentrations of compounds representative of the four tastes were presented to a 6-member panel and their threshold value for each taste determined. To simulate altitude, a chamber equipped with vacuum and pressure controls and controlled temperature and humidity was used. The altitudes studied were sea level, 5,000 and 10,000 ft. above sea level. The altitude and sample sequence for each member was varied since the panel had been accustomed to living at 5,000 ft. The results were evaluated by the split-plot analysis of variance method. When the four tastes were considered as a unit, a significant difference (α = 0.05) resulted between sea level and 5,000 ft. since the lower the altitude the more sensitive was the composite taste response. However, no significant difference resulted in going from 5,000 to 10,000 ft. This study demonstrates that basic taste sensitivity can be significantly influenced by altitude.