Objective: This study aimed to augment previous research that investigated flavor perception in isolated congenital aglossia by a whole food/beverage approach. Isolated congenital aglossia is the rare condition of absence of a tongue at birth without the presence of other symptoms. Previous studies confirmed taste perception in isolated congenital aglossia using single taste solutions including sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and umami. Methods:The current randomized, double-blinded study age-and sex-matched a naïve wine taster and sommelier to the 46 year-old female with isolated congenital aglossia. A Nose and Palate Survey with 54 variables created based on the Court of Master Sommeliers Deductive Tasting Format was used to evaluate flavor perception. All of the five red wines were tested in triplicate in random order, for a total of 15 separate samples per subject.Results: There was a significant difference in overall nose ratings among the participants F(2,42)=63.461, p<0.001, with post hoc analysis revealing differences in overall nose ratings between the person with isolated congenital aglossia and sommelier (p<0.001), as well as between the naïve wine taster and sommelier (p<0.001). There was a significant difference in overall palate ratings among the participants F(2,42)=48.651, p<0.001, and post hoc analysis revealed differences in overall palate ratings between the person with isolated congenital aglossia and sommelier (p<0.001), as well as between the naïve wine taster and sommelier (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between the person with isolated congenital aglossia and naïve wine taster with a tongue for either overall nose or palate ratings. Conclusion:These results support previous findings that individuals with isolated congenital aglossia can discern various taste and flavor stimuli and suggest that absence of tongue does not greatly affect wine flavor perception among naïve wine tasters.
ObjectiveIsolated congenital aglossia (ICA) is the absence of a tongue without the presence of other syndromes or symptoms. Previous studies have confirmed taste perception in ICA using single taste solutions including sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and umami.MethodsOne average taster and one sommelier were age‐ and sex‐matched to the 46 year old female with ICA. The taste perception of wine was evaluated by measuring 73 variables using a sommelier validated Nose and Palate Survey developed by the researchers from the Court of Master Sommeliers Deductive Tasting Format. Five types of medium‐bodied, red wines were sampled in triplicate. While the overall order of samples was randomized, the subjects tasted the samples in the same order to account for any taste perception variations due to the order in which the wine was tasted. Data were analyzed with one‐way independent ANOVA with post hoc tests using IBM SPSS Statistics 22. Significance was set at p ≤ 0.05 and results were expressed as means ± SE.ResultsThe sommelier had the greatest amount significantly different variables compared to the person with ICA and regular taster at 37 and 31 variables, respectively (p<0.05). The person with ICA and regular taster had the least number of significantly different variables at 15 (p<0.05). Post hoc analysis revealed that both the smell and taste of dried fruit had significantly different results among the three subjects. The smell of dried fruit was significantly different between the person with ICA (M=2.13, SE=.165) and sommelier (M=0.20, SE=.107, p<0.001), the person with ICA and average taster (M=1.36, SE=.248, p=0.041), and the average taster and sommelier (p=0.001). The taste of dried fruit was significantly different between the person with ICA (M=2.85, SE=.191) and sommelier (M=0.33, SE=.126, p<0.001), the person with ICA and average taster (M=1.57, SE=.228, p<0.001), and the average taster and sommelier (p<0.001).ConclusionThis was the first study investigating taste perception in a person with ICA using a whole food and/or beverage approach. The novice tasters, both with and without a tongue, had greater similarity of nose and palate variables than either compared to the sommelier. This suggests that the person with ICA had similar wine taste perception to the average taster, while wine taste perception varies greatly between trained wine experts and novice wine tasters with or without the tongue. Previous research suggests that naïve wine tasters and sommeliers use different neural pathways when tasting wine, with the naïve tasters showing activation in the primary gustatory cortex associated with emotional processing, while the sommeliers had activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex associated with high‐level cognitive processes. This difference in neural processing may account for some of the differences demonstrated in this study. Further research could overcome the limitations of the small sample size and number of tasting samples, perhaps by utilizing discrimination tests, and expand on how a person with ICA tastes similarly to a person with no abnormalities within the oral cavity.Support or Funding InformationThis study was sponsored by Dr. Long Wang's personal fund. Wine samples were generously donated by District Wine in Long Beach, CA.
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