Characterization of palatability and ease of deglutition of the five basic tastes by partial least squares regression analysis using myoelectric potential parameters of the submental muscle

Abstract

We studied whether the preference for taste solutions affects swallowing in voluntary movements. The five basic tastes comprise sweetness and umami, which are preferred tastes, saltiness, which is preferred or not preferred depending on the concentration, and sourness and bitterness, which are repellent tastes. Taste palatability and ease of deglutition were set as objective variables, and 14 myoelectric potential factors were considered as explanatory variables and applied to partial least squares regression-variable importance in projection (PLS-VIP) analysis. For all tastes, highly accurate prediction formulas were obtained, but the important factors were different for each taste. The relationships between palatability/ease of deglutition and the myoelectric potential parameters were different for each taste modality.