The sense of taste plays a critical role in the life and nutritional status of humans and other
organisms. Human taste perception may be categorized according to four well known and
widely accepted descriptors, sweet, bitter, salty, and sour (corresponding to particular taste
qualities or modalities), and two more controversial qualities: fat and amino acid taste. The
ability to identify sweet-tasting foodstuffs is particularly important as it provides us and other
vertebrates with a means to seek out needed carbohydrates with high nutritive value. The …